To Fix the Broken
by Winged-Kitsune2
Summary: when Naruto was turned into a jinchuriki he was meant to be seen as a hero, that did not happen. Instead, Naruto had been tortured, neglected, starved, raped, and experimented on. Right after being kicked out of the orphanage he had been caught and experimented on until he had become the ultimate tool, the ultimate weapon.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Nighmare

He was running. He couldn't stop, because he knew what would happen if they caught knew that if he didn't lose them now, if he didn't escape now, he would be dead. He knew this area well though, so WHY couldn't he find his way?! He knew this great inside and out,his photographic memory made sure of it. 'Dammit' he mentally cursed as he turned a corner that was SUPPOSED TO lead him home. It was a dead end. Fear quickly escalated in terror when he realized that he was trapped. He had no way out. They had caught up to him and he was thrown into a nearby wall. It had hurt, but was yells of demon and monster were as loud as ever. He was dead. Why?  
"What did he ever do to deserve this!?" He yelled but, as usual, was ignored one of the members of the mob began to walk up to him, kunai in hand in hand glinting excitedly in the dim light of the night as the figure aimed to kill the "demon child" they were so fund of calling him. He couldn't see the person though, he never could, they always looked completely black, as if someone had ripped them of there color and replaced it with nothing but darkness. In a burst of speed, the figure attacked and Naruto opened his eyes and shot straight up from his bed, covered with sweat and tears starting to make tracks down his face. It was just a dream, it was just a nightmare.


	2. Chapter 2

Gennin Exam Part1

Ok, I put a bad word or two in there so, you have been warned!  
Disclaimer; I own nothing! I don't own the quotes, most of the places, songs, or half of the characters.  
"Normal!"  
 **"Demon!"**  
 _"Different language!"_  
'Thinking'/telepathy!'

Naruto opened his eyes and shot straight up, covered in sweat as tears began to slide down his wise red cheeks. Realization hit him after he had caught his breath and processed were he was and what happened. A nightmare, he had had a nightmare. He let out a breathe he hadn't known he was holding in. He was safe...for now at least...was the young kitsune ever really safe though? His apartment was old and had seen better days with graffiti every were on his walls going along the lines of "die demon" "your not wanted here" in either bright red paint, or the blood of an animal, most likely a pig or fox. He looked to his abused door with worry, it wouldn't be the first time someone would break it down if someone were to attack. He sighed and went to get up off of the long ruined mattress when his healing wounds started acting up. He went to the small bathroom connected to his room to switch the bandages and noticed that he would need some more soon. His apartment had two rooms with his "bed" and a small table with his goggles and an old mask on it in one room and the other was a small bathroom. Next to the bed and a small kitchen with a normal looking table, if not scratched up a bit. He shivered at the cold temperature his house was. It was fall now, the dreaded Winter quickly approaching. He didn't have any heating, or hot water. If he wanted to get warm water he had to heat it up with a small flame he had been able to make in the center of his hand. It was always blue, why? He didn't know, wasn't fire supposed to be red and orange? He thought so, and recalled seeing it multiple times but who knows? Maybe it could be multi colored. He took of the damp and dirty clothes he was wearing and went with his morning schedule. After taking a warmed up by his fire shower, he made a thing of ramen, his favorite food, and looked at the calendar. His ears flattened against his head in fear as his wings fluttered and tails proofed in fear. It was October 4th and THAT day was quickly approaching.  
"Nothing I can do about it..." He said in defeat as he ate his finally finished cooking. He sat, waiting for it to cook. The smell would find its way to his sensitive nose and made it utter agony to wait for. He quickly inhaled his meal and enjoyed the feeling of a full stomach made him feel better. Checking the time on his cracked clock, he cursed, he was running late. He quickly used one of the only jutsu he knew to hide his ears and tail and put on his orange jacket. It was bright and a bit of an eyesore and he knew it. He kept it for two reasons, one he really like the color orange, and two, it was the only thing they would give the young kitsune when he went clothes shopping. It was warm and Jiji had gotten him clothes he liked more to go under it so he really didn't care. Plus it had room on the inside so he could slip some stuff here and there in it when he needed a kunai or two. He kept his wings out though. You couldn't see them from there place inside his jacket anyway,so he kept them out. He opened the door to his apartment and stepped into the crispy automatic air. He didn't want to be seen by any of the citizens right now, everything always gets worse this time of year so he jumped onto the nearest roof soundlessly and took off with the agility and spread of a fox. When he was close to the academy he jumped down in an ally and walked the rest of the way. He went to his seat in the back and sat after yelling something about being the hokage one day and "believe it!" Being satisfied with his display, he looked around and waited for class to start. Why does he act infront of others? he has to keep his mask up infront of them. No, Naruto was not dumb, nor did he want to become the hokage. Why would he want to become the leader to this place anyway after what they've done to him in the past...But he needed to keep up his mask after all. He had noticed that there were Anbu on his tail watching him after a while, how could he not? He had very acute senses and thanks to his "kenkie genkies" was a natural with many things, sensory was so easy actually, it was a side effect to the ways of his people. With his hypersensitive senses (including sense of chakra as we will call it XD) made it easy to see them. How else were there more than one heartbeat when he was alone? It only made sense that he was being monitored to see if they had a potential weapon or if they had to send him to root or dispose of him. So he put on an act. He and his clan were masters of trickery after all. Suddenly he was punched in the back of the head hard by a furious Pinket for being ignored.  
"Ow! What the heck was that for Sakura chan?!" He asked a bit out of character for his persona, rather loudly  
"That was for ignoring me you Baka!" The now named Sakura yelled angrily "you would know what I was saying if you weren't the dead last!" She yelled. She never knew why, but she enjoyed yelling at the blonde every chance she got, along with hitting him too. She didn't know why, but something about the boy just made her pissed.  
"EVERYONE TAKE THERE SEATS!" Iruka yelled using his very own big-head no jutsu. The children all scrambled to there seats, Sakura glaring at him all the way.  
"Ok everyone, today you will all be taking the genin exam, it will start with the written part, then we will check your aim with shuriken and kunai. After that, we will be doing the combat part, finishing up with jutsu." Mizuki said as Iruka handed out the written exam.

" **Don't hold back kit.** " Naruto heard Kuruma say from in his mind.

'Morning Kuru-neechan' Naruto said in his mind

" **Show them just how wrong they are and rub it in there faces** " she said in a growl. How dare that girl call her kit a dobe!?  
'I'll make it higher then they expect, but I still need my mask Kuru...' Naruto said hesitantly, he hadn't planned on passing with flying colors after all, he was planning to just barely pass it to avoid suspicion. 'but...If I'm going to pass above there standards, I'll just have to pass with a perfect score' he thought as a grin appeared on his face. 'This'll be fun!'

"Begin!" Iruka yelled and everyone flipped there paper over, and started answering.

'This is so easy, "What is a hidden village"? seriously, who doesn't know that?' He thought as he zipped through the test in record time. He then realized something, He had half an hour long wait until he could do anything else. He looked around, hoping to entertain himself with something, ANYTHING. Shikamaru was sleeping with a bit more than 60% of his work done.  
'Might as well sleep a bit...haven't got any in a while' Naruto thought before getting in a comfortable position and shutting his eyes. He appeared in his real home inside his mind but never opened his eyes. One of his onechaan tails gently wrapped around him and brought him inside of her cage. He was carefully nuzzled in between her front paws by her head as she too took a nap. A gentle purring sounding from them both.  
Naruto was waken from his peaceful sleep by being elbowed by his neighbor, Sasuke Uchiha. With an annoyed growl, he sat up again and glared at his rival. He was still sleepy dammit!  
"As I was saying," Iruka said with a tick mark appearing on his forehead. "We will now all go to take the shooting accuracy test." With that, he led the way to there training ground, which was about a quarter of the size as a normal one, but was still Farley large. Targets were placed on some of the trees in the area for the test. They started calling our names and we all one by one, were handed ten kunai and shuriken. Naruto was called last and walked up and to Mizuki who had the weapons for him to throw with a large bright smile. When he took the weapons from Mizuki though, his smile turned into a frown when he noticed they were heavier than the average ones. Not by much, heavier than the handle, the handle was too light and the blade to heavy. Mizuki looked nervous when Naruto's smile fell and and a suspicious look took its place.

"What's wrong dobe? You aren't scared are you?" Sasuke said arrogantly.

"Never! It's just that these kunai are all to heavy on the blade and too light on the handle and it makes it way to imbalanced!" Naruto said loudly, further shocking Sakura and a couple other students at the intelligence Naruto let them glance at. But most dismissed it as Naruto just being Naruto and was pulling some mm sort of prank.

"lier, your just making up an excuse for you not going to be able to hit the targets." Sasuke said with a smirk as he was backed up by his fan girls.

"Yeah you Baka! Stop trying to act smart and cool like Sasuke!" Sakura yelled, anxious to impress her 'beloved'

"Now Naruto, why would I ever try to sabotage you?" Mizuki said as he had begun to sweat.

"Oh, no reason, just speaking out loud about something I noticed! And look!" He quickly threw all of the kunai into the air high so that the weight difference would make them all land on target. He then proceeded to do the same with the shuriken. For the shuriken, one of the points made up half of the weight. One of them missed and landed on ground.

"Oh well! Guess I can't win 'em all right?" Naruto said loudly with a fox smile present on his face

"Haha! You can't even make all of them hit the target! What a loser!" Kiba yelled, followed by a chorus of laughter.

"Naruto, you made a bullseye on all but one which would normally give you a good grade but... I will have to take off half of your points for each of them, which gives you..." Iruka quickly did the math " 19/40 of your grade in this part of the test."

" **Oh that little! Naruto, tune me out now!** " He heard his some what sugarcoat sister say in his mind

' um...ok?' He said back before blocking her

" **That little - can't get his - head out of his - - to see that his 'friend' was trying to - ruin the life of of my precious kit?!** " Naruto had tuned her out pretty well as he thought about his situation. He came to a conclusion and he turned back to Iruka.

"That was never a rule." He stated calmly. On the inside however, he was raging. He saw multiple people brake that rule but they were never punished in any way for it! This was so unfair! "You can't make rules that would effect only one person's grade after the test is taken. You can't make a rule for one person only. You never mentioned it before the test. And you shouldn't sabotage your students because of personal opinion on the student." Naruto concluded, sending the last sentence mostly towards Mizuki.

"N-Naruto I wouldn't...didn't...do anything like that..." Iruka said. What was with Naruto?! He was acting so much different from his usual hyperactive self. It was starting to worry him.

"Yeah ok whatever, let's just move to the next part of the exam." Naruto said grumpily. Iruka looked at the young blonde worriedly before turning around and walking into a part of the training ground with less trees for the next part of the exam. This one was combat. Mizuki went to go grade the written tests from earlier. It was pretty uneventful really, the rules were that you have to last for two minutes and no weapons or jutsu. Basically, to sum it up, only muscle and brain. Naruto went against someone who had once been, or was going to be, his friend. He forgot his name, but knew that he had set him up to get killed in a forest by enemy ninja. At least he still had the cool kunai from that day. He stood in the center of the area an waited for the go to for him to strike.

" **You can beat him easily kit. Beat him in the dirt** " Kuruma said with a light growl. She remembered the kids that thought it was funny to try to get her kit killed at the mere age of eight.

'Sounds like a good idea, I never had the chance for any real revenge for them trying to throw away my life.' He responded. Sure he got to scare them with a prank but Iruka had stopped him before he could really prank them. So let it be said that he would be happy to relieve some of the stress that came from this time of year and get his pay back. Iruka suddenly yelled "begin!" And Naruto dashed at his opponent with inhuman speed and agility. Today he would show them all that he was no dobe, he wouldn't show them all of what he was, what he could do, but he would show them that he was not what they thought he was. He quickly dropped down low the moment he was close enough and swept the feet from under him before slamming his leg up in a hard kick that sent him back up a decent way above the ground just barely above Naruto's head. Naruto backflipped high enough and then delivered a flying kick, slammed his foot into the other' gut just so he would be sent to the ground, making him coughing up a bit of blood and fell to the ground unconscious before he could process anything that had happened. With that done, Naruto had won with flying colors.

"Well done Naruto...you um...won by default seeing as your opponent is unable to continue..." Iruka said slowly, still unsure of what was wrong with the blonde. After that they were temporarily dismissed for lunch so he went to his swing and sat there to sway a little here and there on it. This was where he went when everyone else ate there lunch. Shikamaru and Choji sat down a bit off on a bench. Choji was eating a bag of chips, chicken, and rice along with some water. The smell of the meat made him hungrier then he already was and his stomached let out a hungry rumble which did not go unnoticed by Choji who noticed Naruto's lack of food or drink in any sort.

"Hey Naruto, how did you eat so fast?" Choji asked, earning another hungry grumble from the young kitsune's stomach.

"Oh I um..." 'how am I going to get out of this?' "don't have one Choji" Naruto said and waited for the pair to leave him alone. Seeing this further confused Choji. How could some one not have a lunch? He himself felt that he would die if he skipped a meal.

"Whaaaa?" Was Choji's logical response.

"What a drag, now if I don't give you something to eat I'll feel guilty." Shikamaru said as he was Naruto's friend once apron a time and he did care about the blond, he never knew why they stopped hanging out, they just stopped one day.

"No, you don't have to do that! I'm fine! Really! A little bit of hunger won't kill me" his stomach growled in contrast to his words.

"Here, just take a chicken leg." Shikamaru said as he took one of his and Choji's prices of chicken.

"But, what will you eat? Isn't this your lunch?" He asked the two bewildered that someone would do something like that for him.

"We have a whole chicken to eat so it's fine." Choji said handing the blond a chicken leg to which Naruto gratefully took and gobbled the meat quickly. He smiled at them with a rare true smile as he felt a little bit more happy at the reminder that there were some purebred humans that bothered to care. Before he could say thank you the bell rang and they all had to rush back to class for the last part of the exam.  
Naruto sat nervous. He could do the first to parts of the test easily but he couldn't make a clone! He couldn't fail this test either because he knew what would happen if he were to prove useless or weak. He was an asset to Konoha, a tool to be used and tossed to the side whenever they saw fit. Funny how most of them wanted him dead though if he was there important tool. In his nervous musings he almost missed his name being called by Iruka, almost. He hopped up from his seat and went to the next room to do the jutsu test.

"Ok Naruto" Iruka said a bit slowly, as his nervousness had increased after watching Naruto's fight. "I want you to make three bunshin, a henge, and a kawarimi." Naruto nodded and performed the jutsu. He switched with Iruka and into him at the same time earning an alarmed yelp from his instructor.

"Very good Naruto, now the clones please." Mizuki said mentally growling at the young boys antics. Naruto hesitantly did the hand seal and attempted to channel the right amount of chakra into the jutsu. He was doing good and had managed to make one good one but his chakra suddenly spiked when he sensed KI directed to him, as he was sensitive to sensing that too, and instantly dispersed one and the last was made to look like a zombie almost. They checked his scores and Iruka frowned.

"Naruto, your scores aren't good in any of your tests except for sparing, I'm going to have to fail you." Iruka said, afraid of the young jinchuriki would react.

"What?!" Naruto yelled. He had hit all of the targets perfectly except one. He had gotten all of the questions on the test right, Kuru checked them over, he had been won his fight in record time, he had done two of his jutsu at once with no hand seals, and they were going to fail him just because he was a jinchuriki?! Yes he knew it, if he was able to talk to her with ease, then he obviously knew that much.

"You completely failed your written exam, and got less than half on your aim part, and you failed to do one of your jutsu."

"Oh come on Iruka, he did two clones this time! Plus he passed the combat with flying colors." Mizuki protested to cover his tracks in what he had done.

"That is true but he needs to have done three! He only did two and one of them shouldn't even count. Plus his grades are so bad that him wining the spar in record time doesn't even count for anything! I'm sorry Naruto, but I can't let you pass." Iruka said in a 'that's final' tone. Mizuki's smirk went unnoticed by Iruka, but not Naruto.

'The hell? Kuru, I thought you said that I had all of the answers right!'

" **You did kit, it's just that this mother fucking traitor is lying about your grades.** " Kuruma said with a low growl at her sugarcoat brother was sabotaged once more.

"Oh...that makes sense I guess..." Naruto accidentally said out loud.

"What does?" Iruka asked earning a nervous glance at the boy from Mizuki.

"Oh! Did I say that out loud? It's just that, I was...sabotaged again I guess..." Naruto trailed off at the ticked off look he got from Iruka.

"Naruto! You can not blame your lack of success on us! We would never do that to a student!" Iruka yelled, being fed up with Naruto's behavior "now leave this room so that the others can do there test!" He continued

"Fine! It's not like you people have ever changed! Your all the same!" Naruto yelled back, having finally lost his temper as well. He turned around and stormed out of the room into the hallway.

'How could he not see what was going on? Is he in on it too?!' Thought Naruto. He forced himself to calm down and locked his anger and horror for the future for later. He entered the room and sent the next of his classmates in before going back to his seat. Before he knew it, the test was over and they were free to go with almost everyone wearing a headband with only one announcement.

"Everyone that passed, please come back here in two days to get your teams." Iruka never looked at him, just looked atthe observations that were taken and spoke those words before they were let out to there families. He watched as they all left with there families and were praised for there achievement and cheered up the ones who didn't. He turned his head down quickly and went through the crowds and tried to ignore the whispers and comments about him failing and the demon.

"Is that him?" A voice whispered

"Yeah, he didn't pass this year." A second one said

"For the best, it would be a disgrace to the fourth if he had." The first said

"Yeah, that little demon could never be a ninja!" A third one whispered loudly

"Sh! You know we can't talk a bout that!" The second one said

"Yeah, let's just go." The first said finally. Naruto sat on his swing as he wondered when they would come for him. He had heard them, a couple members of the civilian and Ninja council discuss what they would do if he had failed. He just had to wait for them to vote in the actual council. They had said that they would send him to root to have him trained as a mindless weapon. One of them said he could actually wipe his mind clean and start it anew to be a perfect weapon if his hypothesis was correct about it. Him being the it. He has to do something now!

'Why do they do this to me Kuru?' Naruto thought depressed.

" **Because they are angry and feel the need to blame someone for everything that has ever happened to them I'm sorry, it's my fault your put through this."**

'It's not your fault Kuru, I am what they say anyway, a demon, a monster' his wings twitched 'and a morderer' this saddened Kuruma to see her kit thinking like this, she didn't want him to be depressed.  
" **No it's not, it isn't mine or yours for what has happened** " she said sweetly before sensing something her distraught kit couldn't at the time, to preoccupied with his thoughts, " **Kit! Someone's here!** " And she was right, the second Naruto looked up, Mizuki jumped down from the trees.

"Hello Naruto, I have a deal for you."


	3. Chapter 3

This is going to have a cuss word or two.  
Disclaimer; Me no own it  
 **"Demon talk"**  
"Normal talk"  
" _Other language_ "  
'Thinking/telepathic talking

"Hello Naruto, I have a deal for you." Mizuki said with a smirk, this had gone just according to plan.

"What do you want?" Naruto asked with a slight trowel as he knew he was sabotaged by this man, this traitor,  
'to bad it isn't an official betrayal yet, can't kill him'

"Well, I was worried about you" he lied "Iruka was going a little bit hard on you there-"

"When are you people not?" Naruto asked sarcastically.

"-but he actually cares about you and doesn't want you to get hurt, the life of a ninja is dangerous after all." Mizuki continued, unfazed by the interruption.

"If he cared about me, he would have passed me." 'If he had cared, he wouldn't have set me up to fail with those excuse rules.'

"Tell you what, there is a way you can still yet become a genin!" He said with false optimism hoping to get the blonde in his trap.

"Really?! How!" Naruto said with renewed smile and excitement that he hadn't felt in days.

"You just need to do something for little me, a little task." Mizuki answered with an evil smirk that went unnoticed by the blonde.

~time skip~

Sarutobi was stuck in the council room as he listened to the civilians yapping about how the demon had failed and what to do with him.

"He needs to be trained to be useful for the leaf!" Yelled a civilian in a dress kimono. "I say Danzo does it, seeing as he can actually get the job done." He continued

"He is a member of Konoha. He should be allowed to live a normal life." Shikaku said, muttering a "troublesome" afterwards.

"He is the nine tails Jinchuriki, the demon itself! He needs to be our weapon and we all must see to it that he becomes what he is needed to be." One of Sarutobi's advisors said.

"Enough, Naruto has never done anything to harm this village and therefor, cannot be punished."Sarutobi finalized. The moment he finished however, the door was burst open as Mizuki quickly ran in front of Sarutobi.

"What is the meaning of this?! We were in the middle of an important meeting!" A member of the civilian council with pink hair yelled, infuriated that someone had the gal to interrupt so rudely unannounced in an important meeting.

"Forgive my suddenness Lord Third but" he paused for a moment for effect and pretended to catch his breath "Uzumaki Naruto has stollen the forbidden Jutsu scroll and ran." Sarutobi thought for a moment and nodded

"We will have to send a search party. Tell them to capture Naruto and retrieve the scroll. Uzumaki Naruto is not to be hurt, understood?" Sarutobi said 'Naruto, why would you steel the scroll? Just what is going on here? I need to look into this.'

"Mizuki, I want you to go and retrieve all of the files on Uzumaki Naruto." He instructed

"What about his school work? Do those count?" Mizuki asked, worried.

"No, just his scores and the written notes about his behavior that all teachers do on the students." He replied. Mizuki quickly turned away and dashed out of the room. Once he was out of sight however, a victorious smirk crossed his features

"Faze two" he muttered

~with Naruto~  
Naruto had just got to the spot he was told to go to by Mizuki and was wondering were to start. Looking through the scroll he found one that could assist him greatly. The Kage Bunshin. After reading what it said about the jutsu and how to perform it he began using the needed hand signs, landing on a cross one he hadn't learned in the academy.  
'Must not be one of the twelve basics.' He thought as five exact replicas of him came into existence.

"Wow, nice job boss! Five is good! Five is very good!" One clone yelled excitedly

"This is so cool!" The original started "hey, do you guys feel? Are you real?" He continued as he poked the one closest to him. It puffed out of existence almost instantly.

"Five was good but, we need to work on making us all stronger, we should be able to take about two or three kicks or so." Another clone said and demonstrated this by kicking the one next to him, who puffed out of existence.

"That's all good to work on and all but, wait, I remember what the other clones saw!"another said and the real Naruto's eyes widened in realization as he too remembered.

"Ok, we could use that to our advantage with studying but, for now, we need to come up with code names or something. I can't just call you all "clone", it is to confusing!" The original said with a slight wine.

"Well we could call you boss, one of us alpha, one beta, and all the others omega, like a pack." One reasoned

"That could work out, I think I am a beta!" Beta cried happily. An extra clone later and they all got to work on naming themselves. It ended up with two omegas (one turned into female) and went to work on training. The omegas looked at the scroll before turning to boss Naruto.

"It would be a waste to just learn one boss-" one started "-we should learn all of them!" The other one announced

"How bout you guys copy all of the jutsu on some scrolls?" Boss Naruto said as he handed them a few scrolls and all of the other needed material. The two nodded and quickly went to work on copying the scroll word for word. While those two did that, Boss Naruto made as many clones as he could. The entire area was quickly flooded with clones and it looked almost like a sea of orange. He separated them all into ten groups of twenty and had them all work on different things like chakra control and some of the jutsu he saw in the scroll but one group he had fight him all at once. Each group had one alpha per group and we're all working hard. After about an hour or two, Naruto noticed that this was close to his favorite spot in the forest and decided to leave this spot.

"Hey boss," an omega started as he two was thinking about the area " do you think we should stop for today? Mizuki sensei will be coming for us soon." He reasoned Naruto nodded

"OK EVERYONE!" He yelled to the different groups "I think that was enough for today, puff out in a couple minutes, I think I will go for a walk...I'll bring the scrolls." He was handed about ten different skinny scrolls and the one huge one. He sealed the skinny ones into a seal he drew on the inner side to his arm were he could use it easily to hold all of his stuff so it could never be lost, broken, or stolen. The last one was carried by two of the alpha clones. As they were walking, they suddenly stopped when all of the other clones dispersed at once, making the only two remaining clones puff out of existence from an information overload and the chakra exhausted Naruto fell to the ground by a large tree root. All of the info, the memories those clones had, and all of the extra chakra from them had flooded his body and mind and it was too much. His chakra coils had somehow grown when his clones were using up his chakra and now he just shoved extra chakra in them and force them to expand. His uneven and heavy breaths being heard from a good distance around him as he tried to process everything but found that uncontioustess was pulling him hard. He was forced to stop trying to process it all and instead focused on trying to stay awake until he could show either of his two senseis what he could do and pass. Becoming an actual ninja was top priority after all and he didn't want to take any risks for his carrier.

"Naruto! There you are!" Iruka yelled and Naruto felt relief that he could soon go to sleep and rest. Iruka, however, had different plans in mind.

~with Iruka about an hour or two ago~

"Finally done" Iruka said as class had just been dismissed and everyone, including the fellow teacher Mizuki, had already left. He was cleaning up all the room and going through the tests to look for one in particular but couldn't find it. He checked again, same result. We're was it? He started to look around the room around the blondes desk, but still didn't see the test. He finally found it crumpled up in the trash can turn up into pieces. Shocked, he carefully took all of the scraps of paper from the otherwise empty trash can. He looked at all of the scraps and set them all down feeling more confused then ever.

'Why is this thrown away? It doesn't even look graded!" He was interrupted by Mizuki entering the room with a smug look on his face that he quickly hid with a frown.

"What's wrong Mizuki?" Iruka asked as his childhood friend as he went through the papers and took out all of the observation taken on Naruto from both of them.

"Naruto stole the forbidden jutsu scroll and no one knows where he ran off to. I was asked to get all of the papers with his name on them to the third." Mizuki answered before taking notice of what Iruka was doing.

"What?!" He yelled, horrified "why would he do that?! Just because he isn't a ninja...it just makes no sense." He calmed down some and turned his eyes towards the scraps of paper style on his desk and sealed them into a small scroll before handing it to Mizuki

"Here, if you're taking all of the papers with his name on it...then that would include this" he said before turning around to the door of the room and practically running out.

"Wait! We're are you going!" Mizuki demanded

"To find Naruto!" He called back before closing the door and dashing to the forest.

~back with Naruto~

A wide grin filled Naruto's face as he found some renewed energy as he quickly sat up and waved at Iruka

"Hey Iruka! I finally found you!" Naruto yelled excitedly

"I was the one who found you! I've been looking for you for almost an hour!" He yelled back

"Oh yeah hehe" Naruto laughed a little embarrassed "sorry Sensei, I know Mizuki Sensei said to be over by that old twisted tree and stuff but...this area right here seemed more ideal to rest after training for it ya know?" Naruto asked as he stood up on weak legs and supported himself a bit on the large tree behind him. 'Maybe I should have toned down the training..." He thought as he was staring to regret the insane physical workout he gave himself while his clones worked on jutsu. Iruka noticed Naruto's exhaustion and took note of the blondes behavior.

"...Naruto, why did you take the forbidden scroll?" He asked demandingly with a hint of worry.

"For the secrete way to pass the test!" Naruto said, ignoring the confusion in Iruka's face.

"Secret way to pass?" Iruka asked unsure of whether he had heard right "who told you that?"

"Mizuki Sensai did of course. He said to get this big scroll and learn one of the jutsu in it by there." He pointed at the large scroll that was now in his arms, then the area a bit off to the left "when I was done I was tired so I came here for a bit, so, how do we do this? Do I show you the jutsu or something?" Iruka was off in his own world though, deep in thought. Something finally clicked in his mind and looked up again.

"Mizuki told you to bring this here?" He asked. Suddenly, Mizuki jumped from the trees and unto the ground. He looked from Naruto's confused face to Iruka's widened eyes. He then looked back to Naruto and put his hand out to him.

"Naruto, I will take that scroll now please." He said in a demanding voice that hid his glee and shock. Glee at his plan working and shock for Iruka being there. 'Oh well' he thought calmly 'this just means I have to kill Iruka too.' Naruto took a step forward with the large scroll in his arms.

"Naruto stop! Do not give Mizuki that scroll!" Iruka yelled earning a startled Yelp from the blonde not even two feet away from him.

"What was that for!" Naruto said as he tried to rub away the pain in his hypersensitive ears but realized his hands were full.

"Mizuki tricked you into stealing the scroll! Don't give it to him!" Naruto was now backing away from both of his senseis that were yelling at him about the scroll. Mizuki to give it to him, Iruka to give it to himself. Naruto's ears were ringing by now and tears started to form in his eyes as the pain in his ears added to the soreness in his muscles, the headache he had from all of the information he refused to process for now because it would nock him out, the odd feeling of strong hunger he always got when low on chakra, and the strong confusion that quickly turned to fear as he subconsciously compared this to 'mob time' as he called it. His breath starting to speed up when his back touched the tree he had used as a support for himself just minutes ago as fear and instinct were starting to cloud his thinking. By the time his quick breathing was almost hyperventilating instinct and fear had become strong enough for him to run around Iruka and make a dash for it, He was pulled out of his escape by being pushed to the ground quickly and a sound of clothing and flesh being cut into by something big and sharp. Something warm ad wet touched his skin as the smell of iron reached his sensitive nose. Looking up to see if his hypothesis was correct Naruto saw Iruka on all fours above him protectively with a huge shuriken lodged into his back, a small bit of blood dripping down the wound and onto Naruto as he tried to get his already overloaded mind to process the knew information as he continued to stare at Iruka with disbelief and horror at what both of his senseis had done.

"Why?" He finally got out 'why would he safe me? Why didn't he just watch like most would have done? Why put himself in the danger of death?' It made no sense to him.

"B-bcause you and I have a lot in common Naruto. We were both all alone while growing up. Naruto, take the scroll and run, you nee-" Naruto wasted no time on that demand and took off like a bullet, running to the nerarest tree and then jumping to the level with thick strong, branches and ran at breakneck speed from branch to branch on all four like a fox. Saddened slightly at how quickly Naruto had left him, Iruka took the shuriken out of his back quickly and carefully and threw it at Mizuki who dodged.

"Iruka, let me kill him! The demon doesn't deserve to live! Are you just trying to save him so that you could kill him? Do you seek your lone revenge for your parents death? Is that it?" Iruka didn't answer as he was trying to figure out what to do next. Mizuki took his silence as a regretful yes and laughed before turning to the direction Naruto left in.  
"No, I think you will not get to kill the boy all by yourself. The Kyuubi incarnation must die today, it will be my last good deed for this village." He jumped to the branch Naruto had jumped on moments ago and gave chase, he had turned everywhere and finally found Naruto. He henged into Iruka and ran to the branch behind him keeping a little bit of distance between the two.  
"Naruto! I got away from Mizuki! Throw me the scroll!"he yelled Naruto just wiped around and made a rain of shuriken aimed towards him, a few making there mark on the target, forcing Mizuki to drop the henge.  
"How did you know I wasn't Iruka?" He demanded the question as he pulled the five shuriken out of his there was another puff of smoke and were Naruto had stood.

"Because I'm Iruka." He said as he leaned on the huge stem that connected to the branch. 'I'm starting to loose to much blood, I think I can still fight for a little while longer. That should give you some more time Naruto.' He thought as Mizuki looked at he tired and now weak Iruka before smirking as he had come up with an idea to get Naruto to give himself away. He looked around the area.

"Naruto! I know you can hear me! Do you know why the whole village hates you?!" He yelled so that he would be heard

"Mizuki don't! It's forbidden!" Iruka yelled 'Mizuki wouldn't break the thirds law, would he?' "What are you thinking?!" But he was ignored.

"The Kyuubi was sealed into you and has taken residence in your body! You are the Kyuubi incarnation! You are a murderer! Your very existence is a disgrace to the Fourth!" He continued his rambling. Naruto was hidden on the highest branch he could and was hidden with perfect camouflage. Some of the leaves had turned yellow and orange due to the season. His breathing was still fast and uneven but he had calmed down somewhat but it was still loud so he one of his hands over his mouth and nose to silence the noise and the other holding the heavy scroll.

'That's why they all hate me? Because I have Kuru in me? It wasn't even her fault about the night! I always thought they hated me because of me being a kitsune hybrid.' He thought. Naruto was again brought out of his thoughts when Iruka finally decided to speak.

"Your right, Kyuubi is a monster" Naruto felt his heart began to shatter and he was about to run again "but Naruto isn't the Kyuubi! He is Uzumaki Naruto, not a demon!"

"You are right about one thing at least Iruka, just because Kuru is sealed in me...that doesn't make me a demon, Im a demon because of something else..." Naruto whispered quietly to himself.

"I was going to save you for after I dealt with the demon but, if you are so obsessed with saving that little demon, then you will die with him!" He threw his large shuriken once more. Naruto quickly moved on instinct and was in front of Iruka in an instant. He had removed his orange jacket revealing his black shirt and light yellow wings tipped red and orange. With one powerful flap he had blown the large weapon back to his ex Sensai, using five of his tails to stabilize himself from the force of his own flap. Iruka gave a surprised Yelp like noise at the sudden alertness and Mizuki gasped at what was in front of him as the giant shuriken logged itself in a tree. Before him was Naruto in all his glory with his tails, ears, and wings out. His whisker marks were a bit more defined but still in there lines, his canines were slightly sharper and longer than they normally were to the point of fangs and his nails were longer and sharper to the point of razor sharp claws. Naruto's ears pressed to the back of head and gave him a look that said "I'm pissed off" and he gave a low growl.

"You touch my Sensai again, I'll kill you!" He said, starting in a calmly before turning in a yell

"You? You may be a demon but like that you are weak!" He yelled with an obnoxious dose of pride in his words. The world slowed as Kuruma spoke in his mind and she appeared behind him in her cage.

" **Oh this human reeks of Humorous. And just like him he will fall to the ground dead.** " Kuruma said with a hint of anger " **What do you think Kit? How does a number five sound?** " She asked kindly

'Sleep well?' Naruto mentally asked sarcastically before the him in his mind frowned 'to do a number five there needs to be five people.' He said slowly before it clicked

" **You can do all of the multi group attacks you can do. Granted, you can only do certain ones with ought the others but you can now do more than you could do before.** " She replied before he could vocalize his realization.

'Ok, let's do this!' He yelled excitedly before the real world sped back to usual. And he jumped out of the way of the large shuriken and jumped to the side making a hand seal and four other Naruto's puffed into existence and fell into place behind him as the Naruto's jumped to the tree bases and kicked off of them and threw an explosive tag of Naruto's own creation at the traitor mid air for them to explode on the ground near him as Mizuki was trying to dodge them all at once. Some would occasionally graze him. Soon he had multiple gashes on his person, mostly on his arms and legs but some were on his chest back and even one on his face on his cheek. None went deep enough to be fatal but they all brought out more blood than wounds those sizes should give and they hurt way more than expected. After a few minutes of this with a kick or punch here and there courtesy of the two omega Naruto's, Mizuki was on his knees and was in an all new world of pain. He couldn't think all to straight and the awful pain kept him from getting back up to do anything. The Naruto's stopped when they saw this and Beta knocked Mizuki out with a hard blow to the back of the head and he and alpha tied him up while the male and female omegas picked up all of the kunai and shuriken and put them in there respective places in the special seals on there upper arms that are connected to the original's and the other clones. While the others did that, the real Naruto sealed the huge shuriken into the other seal on his shoulder. This seal could be used though his clothes and would still go were he wanted it to b, in this case, his hand, and was for special weapons. He then went to check Iruka for injuries. After checking him over and a quick patch up that took the remaining amount of Naruto's bandages Naruto looked Iruka with a concerned look in his eye.

"Are you alright?" He asked "any more injuries? I hope not cause I'm out of bandaids and that would really suck like shit Ya know?"

"Naruto, that was amazing! Was that the jutsu you learned?" 'How was it possible for someone as young as to not even be a ninja yet learn how to do something like that in less than two hours?' Iruka made to get up a bit to quickly but grunted in pain.

"You shouldn't move so fast Sensei! You'll make your wounds hurt more!" Naruto yelled out of worry. He calmed down some and forced his voice to soften. "Be slow ok?" He tried and gave Iruka a hand to help him up. Iruka took it gratefully and smiled at the kitsune. Iruka remembered something and his eyes widened.

"Naruto, why do you have wings? And why do you look like a demon?" Iruka asked

" **No turning back now Kit, he has seen to much to believe any lie you can come up with. Might as well satisfy his curiosity before it turns to suspicion and mistrust.** " Mentally nodding, Naruto decided on what to do next and spoke.

"Look, I'll tell you later along with Jiji, I don't want to repeat myself ok?" Naruto said quietly, getting a nod from Iruka.

"Naruto, close your eyes for a second alright?" Naruto complied and closed his eyes. He felt something wrap around his head uncomfortably and forced himself to be patient. "You can open them now" Naruto opened his eyes and reached for his forehead and felt cold metal with something carved into it. It was a leaf symbol. He smiled his foxy grin with enthusiasm and joy.


	4. Chapter 4

Truths and Surprises

This chapt will be explanatory mostly, also a filler I guess, so it might be a bit dull. It will be important though and will link to the one Im going to be making soon after this chap is done, so I'll be working double time with the fics soon and am planing a small series on October tenth that I'll start working on after I publish the first chapter of the connected series.

Disclaimer; I own nothing but my ideas.

Naruto smile wide as he felt the cloth and realized what it was. His ears automatically tried to move into a different position that made them look almost like spikes of his hair if it weren't for there red and orange tips. He forgot his excitement and pride when his previous bit of uncomfortableness turned to a slight pain instead and he quickly loosened the forehead protector enough for it to land on his neck were he tightened it a bit. Noticing Iruka's confused look he smiles again with an explanatory smile and pointed at his ears, making them move to almost every angle to show the amount of space the needed.

"This way is much more comfy" he said simply and Iruka nodded in understanding

"Who's Jiji?" Iruka asked, getting an annoyed sigh from Naruto.

"Oh yeah, forgot that you don't know that I call him that. I guess it would be more well known and less confusing if I just call him the third." Naruto said in an explaining time.

"Why doesn't the third not know about this?" Iruka asked bewildered

"Simple, I never told him." Was Naruto's overly calm reply

"Why wouldn't you ever tell him?!" Iruka was getting a bit loud again but Naruto wasn't as close this time so it was bearable.

"He never asked" Naruto replied simply. It was true, he never did ask him anything. Except for a few questions that sounded suspiciously like an interrogation but Naruto always played his cards right.

"But you should have told him anyway!" 'Wouldn't anyone tell the authorities when it came to something like this?' Iruka thought bewildered

"But then I would have to explain how I have them and that would lead to explaining the other things associated with it." Naruto explained

"Other things?" Iruka asked slightly suspicious.

"For example, my bloodlines-"

"You said it as a plural Naruto"

"I know, my clan, my species, my relationship with Kuru, and how it is possible for me to have over a hundred siblings, though none of us have the same parents."

"Over a hundred...?"

"We'll explain it later, for now, we should give them the scroll back and get you actually looked at by people who do it to get paid to by the hospital." Naruto said as his features went back to normal and he hid his wings by his orange jacket. The second he did though, three Anbu landed nearby.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you are herby being taken in to see Ibiki, do not resist." One said threateningly

"Isn't it protocol to give me a choice first? I get to choose to surrender and talk to the old man or to resist and then go to Ibiki, or die while trying to run. Either way, I won't resist. May I see the Third now?" Naruto asked while maintaining an air innocence and respect. Taken aback by the sudden change of character, the Anbu in the lead was at a loss for words.

"Of course Naru, will you hand us the scroll first?" An Anbu with a dog mask asked with a slight bored undertone that he knew always put the blonde at ease and reminded him that he knew him. It seemed to have worked as Naruto's posture lost the stiffness and his shoulders sagged just barely. With a nod, Naruto went to the large scroll, picked it up, and handed it to the Anbu. He recognized two of them almost instantly as two of the frequent people that would guard him when he was first given an apartment to live in and smiled at the two lightly. He could feel there chakra become a little bit more light and taste a bit sweeter and feel a tad bit warmer when it mixed with there auras of soul waves and there spirit, along with other things. It took a bit of self control and will power to not pass out right then and there when the adrenaline finally left his system. He was a little bit dizzy and his headache had worsened a bit but he was fine other wise. He needed an excuse to get this over with quickly though and his thoughts went back to his newest precious person, Iruka.

"Can we hurry this up a bit please? Iruka needs medical attention." He said adding a hint of concern in his voice. Dog and cat noticed this and led them all to the hokage tower medical wing. Once Iruka was mostly healed they continued to the Third's office.

The Third was dealing with what all high ranked ninjas most feared and powerful enemy; paper work, when they came in to see an odd sight. Sarutobi was glaring at his paper work with a murderous glare that would be terrifying to see or given on a normal basis but the fact that he was glaring at an stack of papers was funny enough to get at the very least a chuckle from the group, though Naruto was all out laughing his ass off. Naruto's loud laughing caught the attention of Sarutobi and he looked up to them.

"Ah Naruto, I was wondering when you would get here. I think it is time for you and I to have a little talk." He said as calmly as possible as he had almost received a heart attack when he watched the battle go down from the crystal ball like instrument. Let it be said that he was a tad more than a little bit angry when he found out about Naruto's secrete and had gained a headache and a sweat drop when he heard why he wasn't informed on the subject.

"Sure but can it wait for tomorrow? Iruka needs rest first and you have work to do" 'and I am going to drop to the flour pretty soon.' He kept the last part to himself as the corners of his vision were black and he felt beyond exhausted. Sarutobi must have agreed on the paperwork part as a nock was heard on the door and someone opened it with a huge stack of paperwork to add to the other pile already on his desk.

"But isn't he going to be punished for stealing the scroll!?" The Anbu a Naruto didn't recognize asked, though it sounded more like a demand.

"I saw the whole ordeal through my crystal ball. Naruto was tricked into stealing it and therefore, doesn't get punished."

"Wait...what ever happened to a Mizuki?" Iruka suddenly asked

"Oh yeah...forgot about him the rush to get here...whoops! He's knocked unconscious by the area were you picked us up dog-san, cat-san, Anbu san." Naruto said with a nervous chuckle "Iruka was hurt so we had to get here fast ya know?" With an amused shake of his head, the dog masked Anbu left in a swirl of leaves and was followed by his two companions. Once they were gone Sarutobi cleared his throat.

"So, how about you two come here tomorrow and we can discuss this matter with some others that should know what is going on?" Sarutobi asked. Naruto's head suddenly gave a quick jerk upwards and he spun a round towards the bookshelf with a hard look on his features.

"Naruto, wha-" Iruka began

"I know you are there" Naruto said with his glare never wavering from the bookshelf. An Anbu with the ROOT symbol on his mask stepped from behind it.

"Excuse me, but if this meeting will have sensitive information about Konoha's jinchuriki than Danzo-sama should be made aware of it and should attend. Also, how is it that the Kyuubi jinchuriki knew of my presence and location?"

"I can sense a person is there with out looking for just chakra. You may be able to suppress your chakra completely but your heart is still beating and you still have an aura. Plus your interest peeked Jiji was talking and I sensed it." He explained earning two surprised and confused looks. "I'll explain it all tomorrow, I don't want to have to do it more than once." Naruto stated before turning to Jiji and asking one thing "can I go now?" He received a nod and left the the building.  
When Naruto got outside he wasn't surprised to see it to be about midnight. He headed straight for home and ignored the hungry growls his stomach made. He was hungry, but the second he thought of food, his stomach did a sickening flip.

'Food can wait for tomorrow, I think something is wrong with me, kuru?'

" **You are getting a fever Kit** " Kuruma said softly to the sleepy and sick kitsune Hybrid " **if you were human you would have passed out hours ago. Instead your immune system is just rather low and now you've picked up some bug because of it."** She continued **" This is a stronger sickness than a normal fever so it will bounce back after a little while, but at least you should be good for tomorrow.** " Naruto was glad it was so late now because the were less people out. Less people, less harassment. When he got to his apartment he unlocked it and went inside. Re-locking it behind him, he threw off his jacket/jumpsuit when he felt something warm sweep through him and instantly passed out. The reason he had passed out was Kuru's pleasant and warm chakra came into his system in large rather large amounts through his chakra system. Kuruma face pawed and her lack of care, the moment she went to ease his sore muscles and have him relax while temporary get rid of whatever sickness that was in his systems she had been careless and flooded him in her chakra in a gentle and soothing wave.  
' **Ok, that was dumb on my part.** ' Kuruma thought to herself ' **flood a wave of chakra into the chakra exhausted Kitsune-Angle** **wasn't smart, but it'll** **do the job, at** **least**.' With that, she quickly went at work.  
When Naruto woke up he could still feel Kuruma' chakra going through his chakra system into his chakra network and there fore, his body. He loved it when he was surrounded in the chakra of the official alpha of his pack, of his clan. He stayed still and stayed in a sleep like state were he was awake and aware, but still resting. His conscious faded in and out in a blissful blur. He noticed that the amount of chakra she was sending him had gone down to the point of it being a gentle and constant stream. He then checked himself for anything he should be aware of.

'Soreness? Gone, headache? Gone, chakra exhaustion? Gone and I feel like I ate all of the chakra she was wasting. Any more info that I need to know about? Nope, ooh! I just remembered my clone's training! I can do so many awesome jutsu now! Gotta try out later. What am I doing today? Oh right, tell them everything about what I am and shit. Speaking of shit, what am I going to do?! Am I going to really have to explain everything to them? Or is there a loophole?...who else am I explaining it to though? Just Jiji and Iruka sensai? Probably going to do it for my joninn instructed guy too...wonder who I'll get?' Naruto thought before he realized that the chakra had stoped oozing in large amounts and the tiny drips of multiple chakra sources (including Kuruma's) started to come through again.

" **Morning Kit, how long have were you awake?** " Kuruma asked in a quiet tone as not to startle the newly awaken kitsune.

'Been up for a while' he answered 'though, I was kinda half asleep for a while though too. Hey Kuru? What will I do wh-' Naruto was interrupted by a crash from the window beside his bed, a rock having been thrown through, sending glass shards everywhere, a few either grazing or slicing into him were they stuck in his skin and cloths. Naruto gave a startled and pained yell. The rock read "the" on it and Naruto suddenly leapt off the bed as rocks of varying sizes smashed through his window, completely breaking it. Naruto's ears and tails glowed dully before disappearing and he tightened his wings to his back. Glass was everywhere and it hurt to walk. The sent of his blood hit his nose as he heard the happy cheers and laughing from outside his apartment in the street. Naruto was on the third and highest floor so it took a bit more extra force to throw them in the window. He waited for the laughs and happy chit chat to quite to signal that they had left to walk over to sit were eight rocks sat on his bed with a pile of glass. Naruto made five clones appear and they did as they knew to do without needing to be told to do so. The female omega carefully picked out all of the pieces of glass from the original while the male omega (calling them omega F and omega M from now on) looked for something to use in place of bandages as they had used them all up on Iruka and never got the cloth bandages back from him. Settling on using the ones from his own wounds as they had almost been healed. He then walked back to the original Naruto and set down the bandages and went to the bathroom for the sowing needle and thread. He then returned and set that down too and helped Omega F remove the rest of the remaining glass from the original who was trying not to flinch, wince, or fidget through the painful process. They found no wound to bad for home made stitches so they wrapped the bandages around his neck were there was a large cut that was oozing blood at a decent rate. It would heal quick enough though so stickers were not in order. Beta and Alpha had finished picking up all of the pieces of glass and had put them in a nice little bowl and was placed on Naruto's bed.

'Great, now I'm going to have to pay for a new window too. Should probably set the alarm system up soon though...I can do that later. For now, I have to get ready to explain this all to Jiji and Iruka...and probably my Jonin instructor, then there's Danzo, the elders, and anyone else who decides they have the right to know about me. It's going to be a long day.'

"Hey boss, if your going to go do stuff today, won't you need that bandage around your neck all day? I thought that when we go, our stuff that puffed here with us puffs back." Beta said in a confused tone. That hadn't crossed any of the other Naruto's minds so far and were also confused after realization set in.

"Well then," Boss Naruto started "how about guy Omega stays when the rest of you goes puff and turns into something else?" He offered

"Just call me Omega M k?" Omega M asked

"Why would you want to be called Omega M K?" Alpha asked

"K as in ok you smart ass!" He snapped back in a very un Naruto way. Kind of like how one of his closer related brothers would to someone. Omega M must have realized this too after an awkward moment of silence that lasted about five minutes before anyone spoke up.

"Well..." Omega M started awkwardly "I could shift into our chibi fox form, the one we're if you do it right you can look like a scarf." He offered

"What's that shift called again?" Naruto Alpha asked. He received a look that said "your shitting me right?"

"Were the same person, you should know this if I do." He stated in a deadpan way "but... I think that it's called 'modern day camouflage Kitsune' or 'fox scarf' something like that." He answered.

" **Kitsune Scarf** " they heard a deep voice correct them. The original thanked her before turning back to Omega M.

"Good idea Omega M, can you turn into fo-Kitsune scarf form now?" He asked and corrected himself. Omega M obliged with the request and began to glow a dull shade of mixing colors ranging from red to blue. He shifted his form to a small fox with one very long tail. Whenever they turn into this form, they only ever have one tail for the disguise but it was extremely long and could wrap around Naruto at least three times.

" **If you are going to have a clone with you all day then may I posses that clone and shift him into me?** " Kuruma asked excited.

"How do we do that?" Omega F asked confused wondering what the Male Omega shadow cone would do to be possessed.

" **Just don't fight me when you feel funny Omega Kit clone.** " She responded kindly as she sent some soul filled chakra to Omega M Naruto. His blue eyes turned red and all of his fur became a red orange. It physically changed into her in every way. She kept on the original Naruto's shoulder were she sat and wrapped her long tail around his neck and made herself look like a scarf. Naruto straightened up and looked at tech rest of his clones. " **You know...** " she began '' **there IS a better way to tell them what you are with ought you actually having to say anything.** " She said and Naruto looked at the fox on his shoulder

"How?" He asked out loud and Kuruma focused on something until a few hard cover books materialized along with. A few scrolls. Naruto looked at her questionably.

" **Just seal those somewhere you can bring them around with you.** " She said before closing her eyes an d taking a nap. The Narutos rolled their (his?) eyes at her laziness before getting back to the other tasks.

"Ok, Alpha, seal all of our belongings that we don't want ruined, Beta please start making breakfast and Omega F check for any more pieces of glass." Boss Naruto ordered and most of them rushed off to do there designated jobs. Alpha looked around before turning back to Boss Naruto.

"I don't see much we need to seal other than our knew info, those can go in the scroll seal, but we do need a couple new seals cuz these ones don't qualify for the stuff the ones we already have are assigned to hold." Alpha said. In response, Boss Naruto unsealed his sealing set which was composed of and ink pen and a bottle of chakra absorbent ink that he had swiped from a store a while ago. He handed these things to Alpha and extended his arm and waited for the other him to be ready and to give him his orders.

"Ok, focus your chakra now please?" It was odd to be talking to himself but he channeled chakra any way and pushed his chakra to make all of the other seal show nicely so that Alpha wouldn't accidentally overlap any of them and ruin them. With swift and gentle strokes, Alpha had had three more seals to add to the collection already on Naruto's arms. One was just above his wrist, this one was to seal his seals, one on his upper arm just below the shoulder and was meant to hold his valuables that he didn't wan to leave in his apartment were it could be lost, stollen, or destroyed. The last one was to hold anything like contracts, money, treasure he gets when shoplifting, and after Kuruma told him about raiding missions, a seal on his elbow. When Alpha was done he sealed the ink in his own seal and puffed away. The seals tingled with chakra as they settled in his skin. The ink became clearer, signaling that it was done, and he was handed (tossed from the other room) a towel to wipe it off. He cleaned the ink and channels chakra into his arm and saw, in all there glory, all of his seals. Each were as small as they could safely be with ought a possible failing seal and were about the size of a large quarter with very skinny lines. They faded away and he stood up, ruffling his feathers before slipping on his second favorite jacket. It was his favorite because it gave him a dobe appearance that helped his persona among other reasons. There was a slight tingle were one of his seals were and smiled.

"Ok, I know Alpha is gone so who did that? He asked Omega F looked at him from over his shoulder with a bright smile

"It's the mask that Kaka-san gave us that one time!" She chirped happily, Naruto smiled at the reminder of the first form of kindness he had ever received from a human being.

~FLASH BACK TIME!~

It was Naruto's first month after they all left to there own dimension. He had learned how to use his mixed instincts productively since he was thrown out of the orphanage the very next day and was now known to some as 'The Street Fox" rather than a street rat because, rather than begging for food and money that would never come, he had learned to adapt and steal, to hide and to scavenge, this along with the fact that he was a jinchuriki, gave him his name. Think of it like this, he could blend in perfectly when he wanted to and could swipe wallets and other valuables like the swiper no swiper guy. He could steal with ought being noticed and get away before anyone would see him. The only problem with that was the stores would never let him in to buy anything other than rotten or poisoned food. He had found one place that let him in, Ichuraku ramen, but he couldn't eat that every day. Every now and then at night he would shift into a fox and go hunting. Today he was walking threw town when he noticed something and stopped, he was looking at a small shop that had toys and trinkets, He was looking at a mask in the window that reminded him of one he had seen before on but couldn't place it. He fished threw his pocket and took out the right amount of money before handing it to the shop owner and taking the mask off the wall.

"Hey! What the fuck are you doing?!" The shop owner demanded

"I payed for this s-so I'm taking it." Naruto said nervously as he was trying to look intimidating.

"This?! I never said that I was going to sell you the mask! You gave me the money for free!" He yelled as he pocketed the money.

"B-but I -I ALREADY BAUGHT IT!" Naruto yelled angrily as the mask was ripped from his hands.

"To bad ya demon!" He yelled victoriously as he threw the five year old out through the door. Naruto hit his back to the ground painfully and he heard the shop door slam shut. He got up and turned around, about to run back to the area were he liked to sit when a ninja with silver gravity defying hair and hiatal covering one of his eyes appeared right in front of me with a puff. Naruto was startled for a second at the sudden appearance of the ninja but that quickly turned to fear when the ninja reached into the poach that carried weapons. Fear turned to confusion when instead of a kunai, the ninja brought out an orange book and started to read it. This put Naruto at ease slightly but was still ready to run away if the ninja decided to attack. They both stood there for about a minute until Naruto concluded that this ninja meant him no harm after checking his aura with one of his kenkai genki and he relaxed and turned around to go fume over the injustice of his money being stollen when the ninja suddenly moved and placed a hand on his shoulder. Naruto jumped at the contact as he practically never had any real human interaction before and feared for the worst. Something was then pushed into his hands gently and Naruto dared to look down to see just what was in his hands. It was the mask he had wanted in the shop. Naruto turned to look at the ninja who had handed it to him and was given an eye smile before he puffed out somewhere else. Naruto was shocked still, not out of fear, but out of surprise. That was the first thing anyone he had met before had done for him that did not include hatred or fear. He turned it over and a piece of paper had fallen off of the mask. Naruto quickly jumped back, afraid of it being an explosive tag but after a few seconds, nothing happened. He picked up the paper to see what it said; To Naruto, From Kakashi. Naruto smiled and tied the mask around his neck in a way so that he could put it on if needed to in seconds but was also hidden from anyone passing by. His grin grew wider as he turned around, and walked back to his make shift house.

~Present Time~

Naruto smiled before pushing his arm out and let her seal it. After a bit, there was a load nock on his door. The figure let himself in and told his associates to wait there. He closed the door behind him before running up to Naruto.

Author note; Cliff hanger! Yay! Ok, sorry for the late update, I decided to fix this story after I realized the MANY flaws it had and I think I fixed the grammar too. Not sure why the grammar sucked in this one but not in my other current fanfic but either way, problem solved and the story is fixed. I plan to update on both stories much more often and add pictures to this one since it doesn't seem to have any but once that's all done I'll delete this note, 'till next time!


	5. Chapter 5

The Real Story Begins

/A:N/ ok so far was mostly me explaining what' going on in the story and there will be some time skips coming up but the main plot will FINALLY be coming out soon! This will be fun to write so please enjoy! 

The figure ran to Naruto and jumped into a lounge with a knife ready to stab into the boy. Acting quickly, Naruto ducked under and sent a front snap kick to the pressure point in between the man's legs. He fell to the ground in pain, holding his crouch in agony.

"Looks like you won't be having kids anytime soon." Naruto said slightly amused and then took notice that there were others outside of his door waiting for him. He frowned but then smirked, this was a miner attack on there part. The mob was small and only a few people with only one person with alcohol in his system, he was aloud to fight back. When there was a larger group of people Naruto wasn't aloud to fight back. If they were drunk he couldn't do anything to them because it "wasn't there fault" and "they didn't have a clear mind at the time", he was sent to the torture room a few times when he decided to fight back and the thought of it still scared him a bit. He was positioned, beaten, stabbed, burned, and had his limbs dislocated at one point of time and let's just say, he learned his lesson. These guys were in a small group and only one of them had been drinking. He was allowed to fight and attack as long as it wasn't a normal ninja.

'Wait, does that rule change now that I'm a ninja? Probably not but I'll have to ask Jiji later.' This new thought stayed on Naruto's mind, but since it was not his top priority at the moment, he smirked and had to focused on the three remaining people who where still standing outside of his door.

~Naruto's POV~

I focused on what I sensed, what I could hear, what I could smell in the air, the small thump of multiple muffled and slightly distant heartbeats, the feel of the chakra and the emotions that ushered into it. I flicked my tongue out, similar to how a snake would, and it looked just like a raspberry but drawn out as I tasted the other auras. The one that smelled of alcohol's aura was bitter and tasted like he smelled slightly, the one right behind the door tasted spicy, signaling anger, energy filled, meaning excited, and had a metallic taste similar to blood. I realized he was blood thirsty and switched to the last person, who tasted as bitter as that used coffee filter did...not the smartest thing I ever ever did when K tried to eat it...I looked back to the man crumpled on the floor and thought of the best way to deal with him with ought being punished again for it.

"Hmmm...let's see. My food still has time to cook and I still have plenty of time to burn." I mused out loud and looked at the man, trying to get a sense of his current emotion. I growled when I realized he was ignoring me before laughing an insane laugh that turned into the giggle of a lune. "What to do, want to do?! Hehehehehehehe!" I could feel the demons inside me grin maliciously and childlike giggling sounded inside my head as my 'siblings' laughed in anticipation. I felt all of there bloodlust poor into me, but I didn't stop it, I liked it. It had saved my life when I was younger after first getting them to join Kuruma in the seal, only problem was that the cage broke a LONG time ago but who cares? I grabbed the man and lifted him to my face by the back of his shirt, around the collar. My eyes flashed slightly multiple colors as I stared at the man who still neglected me from his thoughts.

" **Well that's about to change right? Show these guys who's boss pup**." A wolf demon about half the size of Kuruma said.

"Yep! That will change real soon! Hehehehehehehe! Hey, where've you all been? Haven't heard you in a while." I said out loud and felt all of my other clones (except the one watching my ramen) puff away. The man finally noticed his position and looked at me from my hold on him and I laughed.

" **Not important young hatchling, now be fassssst and cover your tracksss! You don't have all day.** " A demonic snake hissed and I nodded

~No one's POV~

"Ok, so I'm not aloud to do to much stuff to you, but as long as you can recover in at least a week it's ok! So-" Naruto tilted his head slitly "d **o you want to have a bad time?** "

-time skip-

Naruto sat at his lone table eating his ramen with a small smile on his face as he watched the four people on his living room floor, knocked out. His clone looked at them worriedly

"Do you think you over did it a bit?" He asked and the original shook his head no.

"They're fine, just unconscious. Now what am I supposed to do today anyway?" Naruto asked as he felt he had forgotten something important.

"You have a meaning with the hokage and Iruka sensei in about ten minutes." The clone replied. He must have seen the original's expression because he continued. "They rescheduled when we...you get your assigned team because of last night. Oh! And don't forget those scrolls, you dropped them in the other room" he said before waving goodby and puffing out. Naruto finished his food and quickly got ready to leave. He grabbed the un welcomed guests and threw them out of his door. He quickly grabbed the books before sealing them before realizing something

'Didn't I already have these ones sealed?' He pushed that aside for later and ran out of his door, but not before checking the calendar "October 5" five more days until then.

-time skip-

Naruto walked into the Hokage's office and unsealed the pile of books before turning back around, being completely prepared to walk out the door before anyone could stopped him. By the time the processed that Naruto had left Iruka was using his bighead no jutsu at the door to no avail.

"Well...that just happened" Danzo said in a rather out of character way. Sarutobi nodded before looking at some of the books. They all looked to be about spirits, demons, summons, human experiments, a few notes to Sarutobi, wait experiments?! He looked at the separate papers, they were letters that explained something's apparently, but where anonymous. The very first detail addressed in them was that the books and papers would alll disappear after...two hours. He face palmed -_-

'This might be a long day' he thought before diving into the books with the others in the room. The room's occupants consisted of Danzo, Iruka, and Sarutobi. Iruka had a book that was titled "How to Tame a Demon", Danzo was looking through a thick book titled "Bloodlines and Abilities" while Sarutobi had the book consisting on experimentation. It looked like a journal, being made by multiple different authors if the diversity of handwriting and attitude was anything to by. He had gotten halfway through the journal before they all went poof. They all looked at each other with blank expressions. 

/A:N/ ok guys, I don't have any names for the demons yet so I want you all to come up with some k? The demon species I have so far are;  
?Two one tailed foxes, three two tailed foxes, three four tails, five three tails, two five tails, one six tails, one seven tails, two eight tails, three nine tails other then Kuruma/Kurama (?) all of varying type of Kitsune. Then about nine nine tails Pokémon, all eveelutuions and Evee, and one of all other fox type Pokémon.

?four two tailed Nekos, three one tailed nekos, five smaller Nekos that look like the two tailed Nekonimi, one of every feline Pokémon, a couple demonic cat summons, and whatever you guys come up with (be specific pweas!)

? ﾟﾐﾩtwenty man made wolf demons, each having the size ranging from the average one, the size of a horse, or half of the size of Kuruma. These are all having a range from tails, the one with the most tails is a silver wolf with 14 tails...you know, cuz these ones were made by Danzo, and all canine Pokémon that actually reflect the species.

?about thirty snake demons and summons. These are either very skinny but long like thread and hide under clothes, increasingly big and thick ones like the one from the forest of death, or encreadibly long ones that are also very large.

? ﾟﾦﾃ?eagle summons, demon doves, demon crows, vultures, sirens, and lastly: multiple demonic macaws.


	6. Chapter 6

My Teammates are Who?

~everyone's POV~

Naruto was currently sitting in his normal desk by the window waiting for class to start. He had gotten there a decent while early but he didn't care, he wasn't keeping his mask up any longer so he would be himself and he enjoyed being punctual

'My teammates and sensei better not be late.' He growled inwardly as he continued to stare outside the window. After a few more minutes the other genin started filling in the class quickly. Kiba sat in front of him, which would be fine if he wasn't so loud ad if he didn't have a dog on his head to block view to anyone behind him. Naruto tapped his shoulder and Kiba turned around quickly with a grin. It fell almost instantly when he saw who was behind him.  
"Would you mind taking Akamaru off your head and keeping your voice down a bit?" Naruto asked politely, which shocked those who heard his m greatly. Kiba got over it quickly and scowled

"Why should I? You're not even supposed to be in here so don't complain!" Naruto cocked his head at this and his hair covered one of his eyes in a slightly cute fashion.

"What are you talking about? I'm supposed to be in here." He said slightly confused

"This is for people that passed only! Not losers!" Kiba yelled and Naruto glared before making a gesture to his neck.

"Not everyone where's it on there head dumbass. Maybe you should look before you open your mouth, or are you just blind?" Kiba bickered for a little bit but Naruto payed him no mind, choosing instead to look out the window again until he felt someone flick his shoulder. He turned around to see that Sasuke was standing by him with a slight glare.

"Hey dobe, can I sit here?" He asked and Naruto seat next to him with a nod before turning to the window again. The chatter took an almost immediate incline when the door slammed open with two Kunochi running in.

"I got here first! I get to sit by Sasuke!" Sakura yelled

"No you didn't billboard brow I did!" Ino yelled Naruto looked at them from his spot in the seat they where fighting over.

"Dumbasses" Naruto muttered annoyed. The two finally noticed that 'there' spot was taken and Sakura marched up to the blonde with anger written clearly on her face.

"Naruto-Baka! Get out of my spot! I want to sit by MY Sasuke-kun!" She yelled in her high pitched voice. Naruto looked at her strangely before an idea struck him.

'What better way to announce myself being different then what they think than this?' He thought excitedly but molded his features to a glare, being light enough but still nothing Sakura was used to.  
"First come first serve bitch." He said plainly and she gawked at him, the room becoming silent. "What?" He asked but was never answered. Iruka decided at that point of time to enter the room.

"CLASS GET IN YOUR...seats" Iruka yelled out of habit before realizing how silent it was in the room. He decided not to ponder on it and got to business. "Ok, here are your teams"

~Naruto's POV~

"Team one is-" Boring  
"Team two is-" Boring Boring  
"Team three is-" did I mention that I'm bored? Bored bored bored  
"Team four-" Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring Boring-  
"Team seven is-" Boring Boring Boring. Why is the banshee screeching? Oh Sasuke-teme's on her team "and Naruto Uzumaki" fuuuuuuuck

~no one's POV~

"But Iruuuukaaaaa! Why do I have Sasuke-teme and The banshee as teammates!?" Naruto yelled 'not the bansheeeeeeeee! My ears hurt from just TALKING with her!' Iruka scowled slightly

"Because your original grading score was the worst in class,by the time we actually fixed them you were already put in your team. All the other one's were done being set up with and the grades were all put in. Just make the most of it, you have the best of your year on your team." Iruka said almost tiredly

"DID YOU JUST CALL ME A BANSHEE?!" Sakura screeched and Naruto wished he had covered his ears.

"Did you just prove that you are one?" Naruto asked in that 'answer a question with a question' way "My ears might be bleeding now, are they?" He turned to Sasuke who was attempting not to burst out laughing. Seeing this, Naruto took it as a challenge to make him laugh. He cast a genjutsu on all of the rooms occupants that made it look as if blood was squatting out of his ears like a fountain. Sasuke burst out laughing, seeing as he had seen a much larger amount, it didn't faze him as scary. To add more laughs, Naruto made his head spin like a sprinkler, making a full 360 degrees multiple times before Iruka stopped him.

"Na-NARUTO! STOP YOUR GENJUTSU NOW!" And Naruto did. His head stopped whirling and blood stopped gushing but something was wrong. There was still blood everywhere it had previously landed and Naruto's head was...on backwards.

"Hey Sakura! Why are you in front of me? You were behind earlier." He said. "Oh wait," his head whirled around all of the way he had done before except this time the other way around. By the time he was done he was completely clean of his blood but those around him were practically soaked with it.  
'Huh, thought that I dispelled that genjutsu...' Naruto thought confused

" **You did** " Kurama said and Naruto gave an inward smile at the fact that one of them replied during the day, Kurama was thoughtful though. It was as if her Kit had acquired a new kenkai genkie, one she had almost forgotten about.  
 **"I will** **get rid of the blood, don't worry** " she said and suddenly the blood had disappeared. With that taken care of, class continued with the teams.

-with Sarutobi and al of the jonin

"So that's my team?" Kakashi asked as they watched the group

"Yep" Anko said with a snicker "sucks to be you!" She yelled, still laughing and Kakashi rolled his eye.

"Now that we all know who we have we should go pick them up right?" A ninja with a senbon needle between his lips asked slightly unsure. Sarutobi nodded and all of the Jonin left. Well, all of them except Kakashi.

"What are you still doing here Kakashi?" Sarutobi asked

"I think I should watch my team a bit before introducing myself to them, to see how they act alone and all." He said back

"Very well, just don't make them wait to long, you're all testing your team today after all." Sarutobi reminded him before leaving to his actual office to finish some paperwork.

-two hours later with Naruto

~Naruto's POV~

We've been here for hours and the banshee won't shut up.

"Sasuke-kun, do you want to-" banshee started

"No" Sasuke-teme instantly replied and Sakura looked heartbroken for a few seconds before turning to me angrily

"YOU BAKA! WHY DO YOU HAVE TO RUIN EVERYTHING FOR ME?!" Ow. My ears

" **Kit I think my ears are bleeding.** " Kuruma said and I inwardly snickered at the inside joke before turning serious again and looked at Sakura

"I don't. Your just blaming me for what you did." Damn banshee

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" The banshee yelled

"You heard me." Was all I said before turning away again.

-time skip

Kakashi walked through the door fully expecting a piece of chalk to land on his head. What he wasn't expecting was a bucket of water that drenched his precious icha icha. I started snickering but it turned into full blown laughter when he sent a glare at me.

"Meet me on the roof." He said before puffing away. I giggled for a second before following suit and shushined away. What Banshee and Sasuke-teme didn't see was that I didn't puff on the roof, I puffed on the outside wall and started walking up.

~My POV~ (didn't see that coming didja? XP X3)

'That BAKA! Who does he think he's impressing?! He's just trying to make my modest Sasuke-kun look bad!' Sakura screeched in her head. Sasuke as simply starring at where Naruto had just been before saying something that would change the very world as we know...  
"Hn"...or not...

"What now Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked with hearts in her eyes. Sasuke looked at her for a moment

"Hn" was his reply and Sakura squealed

'Sasuke-kun is so cute and shy! He's probably thinking about how to ask me out!' Sakura yelled mentally...seriously girl, inside voices! I have to here literally everything you say or think so shush. Me ears hurt now from this T-T. Sakura was to caught up in her thoughts to realize that Sasuke was walking out of the room to the stairs. The moment she did though, she dashed over to his side.

/A:N/ OH MY FUCKING...Kami...THIS TOOK SO DAMN LONG TO PUBLISH! Sorry guys, school's a bitch, final exam things are coming up next week, they're a bitch, and my mom's also a bit of a bitch...nope, that title goes to my siblings...and my youngest sisters's mom...she's a complete bitch. Compared to her, everyone else is an angel. She plays favorites way to much, seems to hate my guts, will screech at me before knowing what's going on in a situation, and threatens to slap me every time I see her! Ugh I just went on a venting spree...I'll try to update again soon and also, I have a mother fic coming up soon. See you all then! X3


	7. Introductions

Me: WARNING! Things are going to start getting darker from here on out (finally!) so if there is a chance of you being triggered, please don't put yourself at risk. That's all I can say for now so bye.

P.S. I kinda started rushing this chapter so... the ending might not be as good as usual 

The group sat at different spots in a circle after Sakura and Sasuke managed through the stairs. No one had talked for a bit in an awkward silence. After a few more minutes of Kakashi's perverted giggling over his book, Naruto was glaring at said bookworm while wondering where the book had come from with an expression that looked something like (-_-) until Sakura broke the silence.

'Damn Naruto, who does he think he is? Trying to make Sasuke look bad and not staying in his place below us?! Damn Baka needs to learn his place! Wait a minute...how dare he! Glaring at someone far superior to him?!' Sakura growled mad and attempted to punch Naruto, who was about to grab her fist and throw her back when Kakashi decided to put his hand in to deflect it instead.

"Now Sakura," Kakashi began "you really shouldn't attack your teammates." He finished

"But Sensei!" Sakura couldn't finish, wouldn't finish, Kakashi gave her a hard glare before she could. "Fine" Kakashi nodded in approval before moving on.

"Good, now as I was saying-" Kakashi said with authority in his voice clear as day

"' **You weren't saying anything!** "' Multiple of Naruto's occupants yelled in his mind and he twitched slightly, no one noticed or cared, Kakashi kept on without outward interruption.

"Tomorrow will be your genin test." Kakashi said with an eye smile. Sakura faulted instantly with her internal rant about idiots and perverts and looked at her not-really-sensei.

"What." She asked and Naruto couldn't help but to agree, he hadn't heard of anything concerning another test, he thought there was only one. Sasuke didn't really care much at all, to deep in his own thoughts of vengeance to care of much of anything going on around him. Kakashi eye smiled wider

"Yep, you're not officially ninja yet so later today we will take the ACTUAL test. But we're getting ahead of ourselves, it's time to introduce ourselves to each other, Pinky, you start first." Sakura glared at Kakashi before looking at Sasuke with harts in her eyes as she spoke. Naruto was smiling before but it faltered suddenly into a frown. Small memories tickled at the edge of his mind slightly as he thought. He looked at Kakashi with a deepening frown 'Kakashi?' The sound of birds reached his ears and past-healed wounds ached painfully before Naruto instantly came to his senses 'that...that was nothing, right?'

"-I hate Naruto-Baka!" Sakura' loud voice cut in through Naruto's thoughts.

"Emo, your up" Kakashi said, completely unaware of what was going on with Naruto.

'Kuru?' Naruto asked in his thoughts

" **I'll Check it out tonight alright?** " She responded kindly

'...k' he responded

"-is more like an ambition rather than a dream-" Sasuke's voice cut in. Naruto's mind wandered to what was soon going to happen in the upcoming days.

'I wonder...' he thought

"-I will make it happen-" Sasuke said

'What will happen?'

"-I will kill my brother-"

'When I turn-'

"-and restore my clan-"

'-fourteen?'

"Blonde, you're up" Kakashi said calmly with another eye-smile

"My name is Naruto Namikaze-Uzumaki-" Kakashi's eyes widened in horrified realization but he quickly covered it up with an eye-smile, Sakura gasped before turning her head stubbornly and Sasuke hnnd "-my hobbies are none of your general concern, and I doubt either of you actually care about my dislikes but I can't stand arrogant assholes, hypocrites, banshees, or unjustified accusations. My hobbies don't consternation any of you either and MY dream is-" 'to get **revenge** o **n those who have wronged me** ' "none of your concern. I'm guessing we will see each other at noon at training ground seven so see you then. With that, he disappeared with a puff of orange and blue smoke, leaving a confused pair in his wake.

"Dumb baka, it's past 1:30." Sakura deadpanned. Kakashi, however, had a slight gleam in his eye similar to mischief.

"Welp! You heard the man, see you all then!" Kakashi yelled surprisingly energetic.

"But it's past-" Sakura tried

"Bye!" Kakashi puffed out with plain white smoke.

"Noon" she finished. Sasuke got up and started walking off, to be followed, again.

"Wait for me Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screeched and lacked on to Sasuke's arm.

" _ **My Sasuke-kun**_ " inner-Sakura said

'shoosh' Sakura said telepathically 'this is my moment!'

 _ **"The precious shall be ours!**_ "

'Ok crazy, town it down a tad'

 _ **"never!**_ "

'Then can you shut up?'

 _ **"Make me motherfucker!**_ "

'Ok...this isn't working, I'll talk to you later.'

 _ **"Boo**_ "

-with Naruto  
~Naruto's POV~

I puffed away from the banshee, Teme, and Kakashi

" **Scarecrow** " a demon dove corrected me, heh, that kinda has a nice ring to it.

'Hi Emph' I greeted

" **He shall now be known as scare crow** " she continued " **so tell me, what's been bugging you recently?** " Worry touched her voice slightly and she flapped her wings lightly inside my mind, mine twitched slightly and I longed to stretch them out and fell the wind with the sensitive feathers.

" **Don't** " Kuru said sternly in my mind and I huffed slightly before returning to the task at hand. Wait, what task again?  
" **You have about thirty minutes before you need to go to the training ground** " Kurama reminded me.

"Oh" I said out loud "whoops" where did I land anyway? I looked around myself to see I was in a tree near a clearing in training ground seven. Taking in my surroundings I saw that there is a small stream nearby leading to a large pond/small lake and a bridge over the stream. I then saw Kakashi puff in a distant tree on the opposite side of the small bridge, I watched him hide and get comfy before returning for my thoughts and aired for the banshee and emo to show up. 

I did that ? oh and here's something else I did

Judge me and perish -_- also, look up fmaderp2002 to see my Speedpaint (no one has ever commented on any of the art I do anywhere but here T-T


	8. Time to Hang Out

/A:N/ He is smiling in that picture by the way.

~Naruto's POV~

Bored...I'm bored...bored bored bored bored bored bored. Hey Kuruma?

" **Yes** " she replied sleepily, having just woken up from her afternoon nap

'I'm bored' I said mentally to her and she sweatdropped

" **Then why don't you go chase a bird or something?** " She offered, I grumbled

'Cuz I'm trying to wait out my 'teammates' I replied and she hmm for a second before giving me an answer

" **Why don't you practice a complete shift?** " She told me sweetly with a yawn " **Can I go back to sleep now?** " I heard her grumble and she must have already went to sleep before I could answer her earlier statement.

'Why not...' I said boredly, I probably can't do it with Kakashi nearby but why not?

" **Just do it**." A wolf demon said jokingly and his siblings joined in with his snickering.

"Yeah yeah, 'don't let your dreams be dreams'" I replied, still using a bored tone. WHEN WILL THEY GET HERE I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR AN HOUR THEY ARE WORSE THEN KAKASHI

" **Did I just hear that green eyebrow guy?** " A random one of my internal family asked sarcastically. Hurry. Up. Please. Banshee. And. Duckass.

~No one's POV~

When the two finally decided to enter the clearing Naruto almost gave his position away and had to cover his mouth... or we'll, muzzle, to keep his laughter in, Sakura had clung to Sasuke's arm and he had to literally drag her with him. No wonder the two took so long, there was only half an hour left before Kakashi would show himself from his hiding spot so it was time to make a plan.

A small five-tailed fox watched as Sakura and Sasuke sat, or leaned on the bridge railing, Sakura sat on it, Sasuke leaned, before switching forms to his usual form as a normal person and suddenly appearing next to Sasuke, neither he nor Sakura noticed his presence which was pretty sad considering that Sasuke was the supposed 'prodegy' and the genin of the year.

'It's also kind of sad that they haven't noticed something else either' Naruto thought from his awkward yet comfy position. Sakura decided then to yell out angrily.

"Where the heck is that Baka?!" She yelled in her high pitched yell before making a fist "when I get my hands on him I'll-"

"Try looking before decided anything-" '-dumbass' he kept the last part to himself and snickered quietly, out loud, when both of them jumped and made there own noise. Sakura eeked while Sasuke made some sound between a gasp, hmm, and a duck like squawk. Naruto laughed with his siblings at there expense while the two got over the fact that Naruto: was next to them with ought them knowing; the tone of his voice was still a new thing to them since they were used to his mask; and the fact that Naruto was hanging upside down with his legs holding him up by hanging over the thick railing.

"What the heck are you doing Baka?! You gave me and Sasuke-kun a heart attack" Sakura yelled while marching up to The blond with her hands balled into fists, ready to punch the blonde for scaring her and the oh so precious Uchiha, who looked away and raised his head in a "I'm better than you" way

"I don't know what you're talking about, I knew he was there from the start." Sasuke lied easily before whipping his head back to see what had happened after hearing a rather loud bang like sound. What he saw made him gasp as it was unexpected by him to say the least. What he had been expecting to see was Sakura harassing the blonde, who would have a small bruise forming, not that it would stay long afterwards, and then she would swoon over himself for being so cool and he would hmm. What he wasn't expecting was for Naruto to still be hanging upside down with Sakura on the other side of the railing with a large bruise on the exposed area a bit closer to the shoulder than the neck, but still close enough to the throats for her to claim it. A few seconds later Kakashi puffed next to Sakura and checked to make shire she was ok.

"Hey Kakashi" Naruto said while waving his leg in the air as a greeting

"Naruto! Get over here and apologize to Sakura now!" Kakashi yelled as he was pretty startled when he saw Naruto kick Sakura with that amount of force, the girl was lucky she didn't have anything more than a bad bruise. Naruto got up from his dangerous hanging spot and walked up to The pair before squaring down to her level.

"Sorry-" Naruto said before spinning around again and putting his hand behind his head "-but you should know better win to walk up to a ninja with the intent to harm unless you except the other defending them self." Sakura looked ready to retort but Naruto spoke again before she could " If I had let you hit me from my position then I probably would have fallen off. You wouldn't want that to happen, would you _Sakura-chan_?" He asked with the missing suffix but it held none of it's usual warmth and he had chosen to glare at her instead of smile, giving him a rather cold appearance to anyone watching. There was a long stretch of silence for a while until Kakashi decided to do something.

"Ok team, since Sakura is hurt, we'll have to take the exam tomorrow morning. Come here at seven a.m. sharp! And don't eat anything tomorrow or else you'll puke." He said with forced enthusiasm before puffing out.

" **Not eating in the morning is a fool's move**." Kurama told her kit calmly who nodded in his mind.

'Agreed' Naruto said with strangely little to no emotion. This confused Kurama and the other creatures in the boy's mind that he hadn't told his teammates yet.

" **Aren't you going to say something to them?** " A she wolf by the name of Twil asked confused

'If they are to dumb to eat then they don't pass, less competition.' Naruto answered and looked at his supposed 'teammates' 'It's there choice after all what they do in life and this is a test, if a student tells his classmate what the answer is then they both fail, why should I tell them the answers to life's tests?' He said calmly

" **He has a point, go now and win**." Kurama encouraged and Naruto nodded but did give his teammates some advice before leaving

"Choose your sides wisely and always look beneath the beneath." He said calmly before suddenly disappearing, no puff, no smoke, and no trace that the blonde was ever there. He just was there one second and was gone the next. Sasuke nodded but turned to look at his female teammate.

"Are you alright Sakura?"

-With Kakashi and other sensei in council room

"Report" the hokage told his genin teachers and they all started to list off who failed, who passed, and who should try again. When the teams were done and team seven went unanswered Sarutobi looked at Kakashi.

"And team seven?" He asked and Kakashi flinched slightly before composing himself to his leader.

"Team seven has yet to be tested in a count of a member of the team getting an injury that might prove difficult if not put any ice on. They should be ready by tomorrow to take the test." Kakashi answered

"One of your genin managed to get hurt?" A brunette in the council asked almost mockingly

"Yes, a young Kunoichi attempted to harm her teammate and he retaliated on reflex..." Kakashi said though was unshared of whether it was on reflex or not. Sarutobi nodded to him bordly

"Just come in and tell me when you're done with the test results Kakashi." He said "dismissed!" They all puffed. 

-With Naruto, Naruto's apartment

Naruto entered his graffiti covered room and closed the door behind him, leaning on the door and sinking to his feet steadily. He hid his face in his crossed arms and tried to slow his heart rate. He was shaking slightly and it was finally hard enough to become noticeable.

" **What's wrong?** " A motherly Kurama asked worriedly but fell on dealth ears. " **Naruto?** " She asked again

"You know how when someone's about to hit something?" Naruto asked quietly out loud

" **Yes?** " She almost asked confused, not knowing where her kit was actually saying but didn't interrupt him.

"Whenever they d-do when they are coming up, they stomp there foot kinda and there chakra tastes funny, like hate and anger but mixed together. I gu-ues I was paranoid about..." he trailed off

" **What's coming up?** " She asked sweetly and he nodded

"Mhm" he hummed back "I harmed a comrade-"

" **Who wanted to see you fall and get hurt.** " She interrupted as she realized what he was talking about " **the rules are met half way, she went against our rules, it doesn't count.** " She comforted

"Ok" Naruto said back before dosing to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

-4:15 a.m. October 6-

~Naruto's POV~

I woke up in a cold sweat from dreams that had been disturbed by my nightmares that always seemed to worsen around this time of year and around most of all holidays but those ones are never as bad as these ones...usually...  
'It's time for me to get up" I said out loud and gave a small sneeze and shiver, I had fallen asleep on the ground leaning on the cold door that had been left open a crack and had managed to catch a small cold or something. Great, just fuckin' great. This couldn't get any worse. I sneezed and jerked my head down, getting a small head ache in the process. Ugh

"Kui-chan..." I said out loud

" **I'll fix it, for now but it will eventually come back with the other little cold you managed to catch soooo...** " she trailed off and I realize that this is going to suck, a fucking ton.

" **Wooow, you cus a lot when you're sick** " a teenage male gray fox said from my mind space.

'Fuck off' they decided to be quiet for a while, good. I felt my headache disappear after some time before standing up. I knew that I was supposed to do something important today.

'Today, today, what is today? Today is...oh shit. I need to go to the training ground like, an hour ago.'

" **...** "

~No one's POV~

Naruto stood up and ran around his apartment to get ready

" **Should we tell him that it's not even five a.m.?** " A wolf asked and Naruto froze mid step.

'...when were you guys going to tell me?' Naruto asked mentally

" **...** " none of them responded, Naruto groaned loudly

"Well I'm up now anyway and I'm already dressed, and I'm not going to go wait for Kakashi's late ass the entire time so what to do for the next few hours..." Naruto trailed of and went into thought before coming up with an idea and groaning. 'Kurama, I might as well take care of being sick while I have free time so give it. I'll be better before it's time to go though, so just do it please.' Naruto asked

" **Alright kit, if you're ready then...** " Naruto nodded after sitting down on his bed and instantly felt sick. He felt hot and sticky with a sore throat and a headache, his stomachs hurt bad but he hardly noticed it, acid always hurt much worse than a little stomach ache. Naruto sat there and tried to meditate through the ordeal, this way he wouldn't Barron his bed in his sleep, he was saving his cleaning supplies for...what he knew was to come soon.

'Don't think about that right now Naru, don't think about-' Naruto gagged and ran to the bathroom before reaching into the toilet. When his stomach was empty of all of its contents, he started dry gagging until his stomachs hurt no more. "Ugh...What time is it?" He asked out loud

" **You still have an hour kit** " Kurama cood sweetly at her sick kit. Naruto groaned before retching again into the toilet, spewing some stomach acid in the almost over filled toilet before flushing, the loud sound hurting his ears. Said ears pulled themselves back in retaliation before moving into there usual spot and Naruto ringed his mouth out. He blinked in confusion as his cold started disappearing, his Uzumaki metabolism kicking in through one of the seals.

Naruto pulled up his shirt and saw the now seeable, small and complex seal over his heart, he hated that seal. It always seemed to hurt more on his birthday.

"Whatever" Naruto said, surprisingly clear and un raspy, his throat was no longer sore as one of his bloodlines healed it. He stood up and stretched his lean muscles before moving towards the door and leaving to the training ground. 'Sakura and Sasuke are already there by now anyway...'


	10. Chapter 10

~No One's POV~

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura screeched once Naruto was visible to the pair of early birds.

"Yeah yeah, whatever" 'banshee' Naruto snickered internally at the second part.

"Hn" Was Sasule's greeting before looking at Naruto strangely "what's with your hair?" He asked and then it was Naruto's turn to look at him strangely, reaching his hand to his hair and feeling it. When he did, he felt two larger spikes that he knew wasn't his hair, they were his ears. He was lucky that they were angled in a way that they weren't extended fully or else everyone would automatically know exactly what they are.

'Great! Cover story cover story...' "that's my hair, I normally wear googles and since you guys hardly ever see me with my hair down, this I show it looks!" Naruto practically yelled 'I'll probably have to have my ears out all of the time now, just fricken great.' Sakura made an attempt to punch him, he dodged.

"Baka! Hair doesn't look like that!" Sakura said loudly, she was completely healed somehow and ready for their test.

'At lease she isn't screeching, she's right though, my ears start out my usual blonde but they turn red and orange around the tips.' "My hair's just like that, you just never noticed." Naruto said, just then, Kakashi appeared in a puff of smoke

"Yo"

~Naruto's POV~

The ninja wire scratched and bit into my bare arms seeing as I had worn a black T shirt rather than my usual jumpsuit. We had apparently failed the test, even though I held a single bell in one of my pants pocket. This test didn't make much sense in all honesty, why would I bend over backwards to team up with people when I can easily do the job by myself anyways? Kakashi walked back in the clearing with two bento boxes in his arms  
"Remind me again why I'm tied to a stump" I asked Kakashi, he didn't reply, he had been acting really weird today, it's starting to worry me...

"Because you failed the test." Kakashi said calmly, his voice was cold and devoid of any emotion and he seemed to pull the wire ends a little bit tighter, I winced as the metal cut into my skin. What is going on?!

"The test was to get a bell, I got the bell!" I yelled at him and showed him the bell again

"The real purpose of the test was teamwork, you got the bell by yourself y-" he almost said something else but stopped himself suddenly before he could finish his sentence. He handed Sasuke and Sakura the bento boxes

"The second test happens after lunch, Naruto doesn't get any so DON'T give him any." Kakashi said before walking away.

"Haha, dumb Baka" Sakura laughed as she gobbled her food down mockingly. I had barfed up everything in my stomach this morning and hadn't eaten anything for breakfast. Sasuke smirked at me before waving a piece of meat in front of me in between his chopsticks, I growled at him before snapping my neck forward, extending it as far as possible, and snapped my jaw, grabbing his chopsticks with my teach and using my long, thin tongue to wrap around the food before spitting out the sticks on the ground. Sasuke's eyes widened before he glared at me, eyes dripping venom. He gripped the wires and yanks them hard, they cut further into my skin and ripped my shirt. I let out a hiss before I could stop it as the cuts bled. Sakura looked at me for a moment, horrified, before looking at Sasuke and I could see hearts appearing in her eyes. She turned to me and punched my face hard, my head snapping to the side at the harsh blow, I honestly thought that they were better then this, better then their parents but I can see now that I was wrong. Kakashi puffed in front of us all and looked at us all in surprise before looking back at me and looking directly at my ears with disgust and I paled. He knew

"Meet me here again tomorrow." Kakashi said before puffing away. Sasuke let go of the wire ends before walking away, Sakura looked at me with a bit of sympathy before chasing after her crush. The wires were through my skin deep enough for me not to be able to see them. They were still wound tight around me but I was almost numb to the pain entirely. I came up with a plan and started squirming to get my hand close to my weapon pouch. I doubt that my claws were strong enough to break them, the skin on my arm was being turn off by the wires and the bare flesh bled more than before as the first two layers of multiple spots were ripped off wherever the wires crossed or came close, my shirt was ruined. I pulled out a kunai and spun it around so that it was facing the wires and pushed the blade as hard as I could from the awkward angle, the sound of small snaps sounding and the blade cut the skin behind the wires. I stood up before walking to the stream, might be able to clean up the blood before someone sees me and thinks I killed someone or something. 

-Council Room

Kakashi stood in front of the Hokage to give a report that he knew that none of these people would like.

"So, did they pass?" Sarutobi asked, Kakashi's answer was immediate

"No" he said "they failed in every aspect of the test." He continued, an uproar of disapproval resounded.

"We can't sharpen our weapon if it isn't a ninja!" one of Danzo's lapdogs shouted

"You DARE disrespect the Uchiha clan like this?!" A different person yelled

"HOW DARE YOU FAIL MY DAUGHTER AND FUTURE SON-IN-LAW!? I WILL WRING YOUR NECK!" A brunette yelled louder then the rest, the yells continued and Kakashi knew that it would be a long night.

-two hours later  
The meeting ended and it was decided that the team would be passed, and there was one last thing that Kakashi needed to discuss.  
"Hokage-Sama, I think that the demon has been...released or something..." Kakashi said slowly

"What?" Was Sarutobi's response

"I think that the seal has loosened or something and that it's devouring Naruto's soul, he looked slightly sickly and pale today and didn't react to pain at all when..." he paused to think "he got hurt... and his chakra seemed demonic almost." Sarutobi nodded

"I will deal with it, for now, ignore it." With that, everyone was dismissed and left, all except was gone except Sarutobi, the two advisers, and Danzo.

"This doesn't change anything, right?" Danzo asked

"No, the plan is still the same. Is everything ready?" Sarutobi asked

"Almost ready, there are still a few more things that we need to prepare including relocating some of certain ninjas so that they are out of the way, we WILL have our weapon." The female advisor said.

-Naruto's Apartment

Naruto entered his home and walked straight to his bathroom to get some bandages for his arms, he was still completely out and would need to go out to get some new ones.

"Great..." he said out loud before grabbing his jacket, he was glad that they were mostly closed up with a thin layer of cover skin over the lost patches of skin. He then grabbed his froggy wallet and left to buy some more bandages, he had given them all to Iruka the other day and forgot to get them back. He walked to the stores and started to look for any store that would sell to him and actually have what he needed. He had been given multiple glares as he walked through the streets, he ignored them as usual. That, of course, was until someone grabbed his arm and the still sensitive skin almost burned as the fabric of his sleeve was pressed into it.


	11. Chapter 11

Bonding Over Bandages

Naruto walked through the streets and ignored the harsh glares of those around him, ignoring them all until someone grabbed his wrist, hurting his still sensitive skin.

"Owowowowwow let go!" Naruto said suddenly before yanking his arm from the man's grasp. He froze when he realized who the man was "Iruka-sensei?" He asked

"We were calling your name but you were zoning out and kinda about to walk into a wall Boss." Konohamaru said with slight worry, Iruka was looking at Naruto's clothed arm

"What's wrong with your wrist Naruto?" He asked 'he isn't cutting, he can't be cutting, right?' Naruto rolled up his sleeve to show them the newly opened patch of ruined skin

"wow" Konohamaru said

"What the hell happened?!" Iruka yelled suddenly, causing multiple random people to look at them strangely. One civilian noticed blood and yelled at them before throwing a rock at Naruto, cutting him just above the eye

"Well, gotta run before they get the pitch forks OK BY!" Naruto yelled before jumping onto the nearest roof and speeding off quickly and stopping when he knew no one was behind him. He rubbed his bleeding wrist and wiped his brow to clean away the blood that dripped down. I decided to jump back down to resume my search, I was grabbed again 'at least it's not my arm' Naruto thought as he looked at his worried ex-teacher. "Sup"

"Naruto, what happened" Iruka said in a demanding tone

"Just a little ninja practice concerning escaping some ninja wire, don't think it was supposed to be that sharp though...you know...practice miscalculations..." Naruto lied, he knew that it was no accident that a Jonin tied him up with a wire meant to hold up, kill, and used to attack enemy. 'At least I got a new weapon to use'

"Are you alright though?" Iruka asked worriedly, Naruto nodded casually

"Yeah, just need some bandages for 'em so that they'll heal without reopening...again" Naruto said, licking some more of the blood away to help clean the wound again as it closed. Iruka watched the wound close with a mix of horror and confusion.

"What are-so the Kyuubi can-" Iruka was at a loss for words, in the end he just decided to shut his mouth.

"I heal fast for multiple reasons, one of them being the fact that I'm an Uzumaki" Naruto answered the unasked question, Iruka made an Oh face 'with the abilities of every branch of my family' Naruto added the last part and kept it to himself, he liked a Iruka but doubted that he would keep his lips sealed if he told him. Iruka gestured for him to follow as he walked back to his house. It was smallish and homie, but nothing to complain about. "So...I don't mind or anything, but why are we at your place again?" Naruto asked while looking around the kitchen, it was the room that he had been brought into after all and was the only space that he could actually see.

"I'll be right back" Iruka said before going into a different room ad out of Naruto's sight. Naruto groaned as he gained a slight headache suddenly and he let his wings become physical again, he had taken off his jacket at the door at Iruka's request and had nothing to cover them, they had to stay hidden. He always had to keep at least one feature out at almost all time, otherwise Naruto would either find himself puking his guts out, get a panic attack, or get a painful migraine. Something about brain signals bouncing back or something. Naruto quickly stretched his large wings out as far as he could in the space before making them fade out of existence.

"Hey Iruka, were'd ya go?" Naruto yelled before realizing that he was not going to be heard, Naruto groaned "I can already feel a migraine coming on, great." He muttered to himself. Kurama stayed silent, she was taking her nap and couldn't help him put on this one either way. Iruka came back into the kitchen with a small medical kit and set it down in the table before opening it and rummaging through its contents, pulling out a few rolls of cloth bandages and setting them on the table for later use. Iruka was watching Naruto with a small look of confusion and surprise from the corner of his eye while still getting out a few items from the emergency kit. By the time he had closed the container, a good portion of part of the table had been covered in medical utensils. There was robbing alcohol, a small sowing kit, and a lot of bandages ranging from type and use, both cloth ones and non cloth. Iruka first picked up the rubbing alcohol and looked at Naruto expectantly. "Wut?" Naruto asked, not understanding what was expected of him.

"Can you roll up your sleeve?" Iruka asked patiently, Naruto complied, Iruka looked at the shallow gashes and cuts and saw that they went up all of the way to his shoulders by the small red stains that were slowly appearing, but also noticed the same thing on his chest, only much less. "You might have to take off your shirt Naruto." Naruto looked at him for a few seconds, as if thinking over all of his choices, before complying after a little more prompting from Iruka, who didn't understand the sudden shift in the blonde's mood, it was almost as if the blonde was hiding something. When the shirt had been completely removed and set aside, Iruka saw why. The blonde,s body was completely coated in light colored scars that would not have been noticed unless one were actively looking for them, Iruka had been looking for more injuries. There was more though, completely lining Naruto's chest cavity had been almost completely coated with seals leading to his stomach where the original seal showed. They were faded, as if disappearing, but they were still there. Iruka gingerly ran his hand over a few of the lines and found that each of the lines were almost raised slightly from the rest of the skin, similar to how a scar would feel. Naruto flinched at the contact and started shivering slightly, as if cold or...scared.

"Uhm Iruka, I have things to do today so I should probably gat going if all you're going to do is rub my stomach." Naruto said in an almost timid voice 'get away from the seal gat away from the seal get away from the seal get away from th-' Naruto continually thought and he started to stand. Iruka, who now realized that touching the seal was a big no no, started waving his arms comically.

"You still need the bandages so, wait a minute..." Iruka's tone changed from worried to realization, he took in Naruto,s apearence and it finally clicked "what happened to your tails and stuff?" He asked, he had forgotten about them after everything that had happened on that day. Naruto looked at him with slight shock

"You remember that?" Naruto asked in a surprised tone, Iruka nodded.

"I forgot after all the blood loss and stitches, but I do remember a hazy view of you, but not you like right now." Iruka said

"Do you want me to clear your memory?" Naruto said before his body started to change, he wasn't going to wait for an answer. He grew a pair of wings and five tails (pretty sure that's how many I said he had, right?) that wrapped around themselves to appears as one large fluffy bundle of fur, a matching pair of ears appeared and his eyes became a bit more slitted but remained in a round oval shape. Naruto stretched every appendage, his tails unraveled for a few seconds while doing so, and Iruka gave him a slightly startled look. There was a difference to knowing something and seeing it after all, even though he had already seen it before.

-Naruto's POV

I stretched myself out fro a bit before wincing slightly as some of the still healing skin was pulled open when I stretched my arms. I looked at them and Iruka followed my gaze before getting out the sowing needle.

"Eek!" I accidentally let out a sound of fear and he looked at me funny before gaining an understanding look and putting the needle back away.

"You probably don't need stitches if you heal that fast..." I heard him say before getting out the rubbing alcohol and carefully cleaning the still opened wounds. It stung a bit but not too much. When he was done cleaning all of the remaining blood that had dripped out earlier with a wet hand towel he started wrapping the cloth bandages around my arms and torso.

"I'll give the bandages back after cleaning them and-" I stopped talking when Iruka shook his head and interrupted me.

"Keep them, you'll use them more than I will. I'm a teacher, remember?" He said to me and he was right, he was a teacher to the ninja of the next generation while I am active ninja, even though I wasn't really one until today but whatever! Hey wait a second-

"Hey where'd Konohamaru go?" I asked after realizing that he wasn't here with us

"I sent him home before going after you" he said back to me calmly and My stomach growled loudly, reminding me that I had not eaten anything yet today. Iruka looked at me understandingly and gave me a kind smile "How does rice and pork sound for dinner? I know it's a little bit early but I had a small lunch and you look hungry."

~9:30 pm~

-Iruka's POV

Me and Naruto ate our early dinner and then decided to chat for a while, most of it was actually from me, surprisingly, and before we knew it, the sun had set. Naruto wanted to leave for his home but I told him to stay here for the night, he's now sleeping on my couch. When he fell asleep I went to see something. I know that it's creepy, and kind of immoral, but here I am, watching him sleep like a total creep. I just couldn't get over his...appendages...without really looking at them closely so here I am. After about an hour or two passed, Naruto stirred slightly. I accidentally made a creaking noise from the floor when I shifted my weight and I guess at Naruto's ears are hypersensitive or something, they twitched at the sound I accidentally made. I decided to evacuate myself to my own bed for the night and at yawned, tucking Naruto in a little before walking away.

"Good night Naruto." I said while still yawning

"...G'night...Iru-ka..." a small, quiet voice replied slowly and drowsily. I paused and looked back over my shoulder at the still sleeping creature, had he been talking in his sleep? I shrugged before walking away to my room.


	12. Chapter 12

Trees

~Unknown place, time, and POV~

A small, skinny boy sat in an empty, old dumpster that served as his makeshift home. He did not make a sound and was hardly moving if at all. The boy was deathly skinny, his bones seeable through his old, dirty, and worn down shirt. This is what he had been doing ever since he had been thrown out of the only home he had ever known and was still only a toddler. There was a loud smash like noise nearby, the boy did nothing. His eyes seemed to not register any movement around him and looked almost dead as they stared straight ahead, as if the boy had no hope or will to live. He made no move when a drunken man grabbed him and slammed him on the wall parallel to his sideways dumpster and was about to assault the young boy, though this wouldn't have been the first time this would have ever happened. The boy put up no fight, even if he had the will, he was too weak to defend himself due to a lethal condition of malnutrition and dehydration. When the man had finished his game, one that the boy had grown fairly familiar with, he left him alone again and the boy tried to crawl back to his dumpster, his safe haven. He never made it there as a man with a mask on and some black ninja attire picked the boy up before disappearing in a show of leaves.

~Present time, training ground seven, October 8~

Naruto sat on the bridge, this time right side up so as to not get in trouble again, and sat there waiting for his three teammates. Two days, two days were all that was left before the unspoken torture would begin again.

"This time, this time I can fight back though" Naruto said out loud quietly to himself. He decided not to wait for his teammates to start being productive, deciding to instead stretch his usual limbs and then start brutally fighting a one sided battle with a tree stump. He wasn't using any of his tools or weapons as he forced both bark and wood alike off with strong kicks and fast punches, not stopping until the tree stump suddenly gave way and it's roots tore from the ground, becoming exposed in the dim light of the barely rising sun. Kakashi had told them to come extra early today so that they could do an extra sum of missions before the day let out. The previous day had been spent with doing nothing but training, Kakashi telling me and Sakura to run laps and soar while he taught Sasuke how to tree walk.

'I have time...' Naruto thought, before walking up to the nearest tree that also went on for quite the ways up. Naruto let out a deep breath before attempting to sprint up the tree and shoved a rather large amount of chakra to his feet to get a feel to how much was needed to be used, he was thrown of instantly on contact. Naruto landed on his hands before throwing himself into the air and landing on his feet with ease, a thoughtful expression in his face 'So an over load of chakra in an object repels then huh? Interesting.' He thought but was interrupted by the sound of cracking wood. The base of the tree, the part were he was shot off from, had been completely destroyed. "Timber!" Naruto yelled to himself jokingly, his inner demons still sleeping, and he shoved an overload into his feet and found himself high in the air, far above the tree top.

He watched as the tree fell to the floor and the dirt settle as he seemed to fall downward in slow motion, as if he was defying gravity. "Ok, I'm bored" he said suddenly after a few more minutes of watching the ground from afar. The moment he said this however, it seemed as though gravity had decided to return to normal and he quickly began falling towards the ground at blazing speeds, landing on his feet with a loud bang as he created a creator on the Earth's surface.

" **Looks like someone made a bit of a mess.** " Kurama suddenly said from inside of Naruto's head

'Gooood MORNIIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGG!' Naruto responded in his mind loudly and cheerfully and he could swear that someone had tried to throw something at his mental self.

" **Keep it down out there!** '' Someone yelled in a grouchy tone

" **You might want to fix up the place before everyone else shows up** " Kurama said, earning a nod from the blonde. Naruto walked up to the exposed root of the demolished tree and focused on what he wanted it to do. It started moving and lifting itself up right, severed branches reconnecting, and broken branches disappearing from the place they laid to their rightful place, the skate with every fallen leaf. Once the tree was back to normal Naruto walked over to his crater and lowered his hand to the ground before touching it and slowly lifting his arm, the ground rising with him, until it had returned to normal. Naruto dusted off his hands and began walking back to the bridge to wait for his so called team to show up, they had ten more minutes until Naruto would expect them to show after all.


	13. Chapter 13

C Rank

-October 8, 10:00 Training Ground Seven

-Naruto's POV

I looked at the poor young tree that I had used as a target for the training Kakashi had assigned me to, once again he left me and Sakura for Sasuke, and he had hardly spoken towards me since we first became a team. Right now he had me thro both kunai and shuriken at the tree, which was strangely much smaller then its brethren, because he had said that I needed to practice my aim. My aim is better then that Uchiha emo! I bested his score on the test for crying out loud! But...no one really paid attention to my strong suits when they already think I'm useless and a monster. I wonder what they would think if I were to show them NO! I suddenly sliced at the tree with a lethal blow of claws that had appeared instantly.

'They can never know' I told myself as I looked at the wood caught under my claws from the powerful blow I had just moments ago felt opinions it. I lifted my hand to my mouth and carefully began prying out the wood chunks while I examined the tree. 'It's going to die for shore now' I thought to myself as I looked at the deep marks that made the tree uneven. It wood fall under its own weight, pun intended

" **Ha** " a fox-like creature said with a small snicker but seriously though, this tree is as good as dead.

" **It might survive** " someone argued. Are you seeing this tree or just half listening to me?

" **Kind of hard to listen to someone who isn't actually talking to us.** " A wolf said. Whoops

'Sorry' I said mentally, just then Sakura came up, covered in sweat and breathing hard, and she began to try to catch her rebate to speak.

"Kakashi...wants...us" she huffed between breathes

"How many laps have you done today?"

" **Bet you a dollar that sshe ssayss under five**." A snake said boldly

'You're on'

"I did like ten" she said, still heaving. Suck it

" **You ssuck** "

'You know you love me'

" **Liess** " I was brought out of my conversation with a light bunk on the head, not a hit, a bunk.

-Sakura's POV

Naruto had stared off into space again while I was catching my breath and, to be honest, he actually looked different from how he used to for some odd reason. Maybe it was the fact that both of us were being ignored by Kakashi, or maybe it's because I feel guilty about-but he seems fine so that doesn't need to be brought up. His eyes lost focus because of his lack of outward attention and I actually decided to take his appearance in for once. He still wearing that orange jump suit today but had tossed the top part aside earlier at the begging of today's trading, he probably didn't want to get it dirty, and had worn a grey short sleeve shirt that made him almost appear feminine. It didn't, look like it was on purpose but the shirt was much less loose then his usual attire, it showed his slight curved and slightly muscular body rather then the fat I had expected. I looked at his arms, without the long sleeves of the jumpsuit I could see the black fingerless gloves and matching elbow warmers on his arms, as well as the odd light marks that littered his arm in many different shapes and sizes, most being very small and thin lines. His hair was longer then I had once thought and, with nothing to keep them up, his bangs fell on his face. Part of his bangs hiding most of one of his eyes while the rest of them were simply pulled to the side. Lastly was the two identical larger spikes of his hair on either side of his head that looked like he died red and orange around the tips.

"Naruto" I tried, but he still looked off into space. My temper flared for a moment and I was about to hit him, but then I stopped midway when I realized that it wasn't the best corse of action. Last time I even tried to hit him I ended up getting kicked in the face, don't want to repeat that mistake. I settled for lightly bonking him on the head and he did look at me with slight confusion and surprise. Do I really hit him that much?

"Come on Naruto, Kakashi wants us." I said in a quieter voice then I normally would. I guess I felt guiltier then I thought.

-No one's POV

~With Kakashi~

Kakashi was leaning on a tree with his little orange book opened when the neglected pair of students came to him as he requested.

"Hnn" Sasuke said in greeting

"Sasuke-kun" Sakura greeted slightly forceful. She felt that if she tried hard enough she would forgive what he did, she wasn't mad at him but-'If he's so willing to do that to Naruto, will he do the same to me?' She was scared of him now. Kakashi looked at Naruto with the hint of disgust before looking back to his book 'I thought that they liked each other' Sakura thought confused

"Alright, the hokage needs us to take care of a low c rank mission since everybody else is taken" he said lazily

"Hnn" Sasuke said with a smirk, the fact that they hadn't even had any mission at all and suddenly went straight to a c rank was impressive and he took pride in the fact. Sakura looked worried and Naruto looked skeptical at the assigned job but neither had a chance to outwardly question it before Kakashi had shushined em all to the Mission Desk.

, they disappeared in a shine of leafs.

~Mission Desk~

Iruka had managed to get stuck behind a desk, the school year was over after all and he had only been assigned as a teacher to keep watch over Naruto, and was currently handing out assigned jobs to other ninja. Sitting next to him sat the hokage who had decided to neglect his current work to read some book with a blank cover on both sides. Just as the current team finished grabbing their mission form, team 7 appeared in a flash of leafs a few feet away from the desk.

"Gah!" Iruka yelled out in surprise before regaining his composure, Sarutobi sighed

"Use the door please" he said in an annoyed tone before smiling at the whispered blonde "Hello Naruto" he said pleasantly

"Hi old man" said blonde replied, Iruka noticed that Kakashi was oddly silent, and that his little orange book was oddly absent. Iruka followed his single-eyed gaze to see him staring straight at his blonde student. He must have felt his gaze, he lifted his gaze and their eyes met for a moment before Kakashi looked away to the hokage, who was engaged in a small conversation with Naruto. Sarutobi looked at Kakashi for a mere moment before nodding and turning towards the door.

"Bring him in."


	14. Chapter 14

Demon Brothers

"Bring him in." Sarutobi said to the man on the other table across the room. He nodded and left through the other door before returning with a man that reeked of alcohol.

'Holyfuckingshit! This guy REEKS' Naruto yelled mentally as he covered his sensitive nose in a vain attempt to block out the offending smell. "Do you bath in boos?!" He practically yelled

"Now Naruto, don't be rude to the customer." Kakashi scolded in his normal lazy tone

"But he reeks!" Naruto complained but on the inside he picked up on a different topic 'are things back to normal now?' He asked himself, he looked at Kakashi out of the corner of his eye before letting the tip of his tongue slip out of his lips and he tasted the air. He had his answer. The ability of the demon snakes was to taste another creature's emotions and soul through the aroma in the air, and right now, Naruto tasted hidden disgust.

Tazuna looked at the group of young ninja with slight worry. This worry was not hidden or truly expressed, or at least seen due to the drunken haze that turned his worry into aggression.

"These brats are supposed to protect me?!" He asked in disbelief, he scanned his protectors with a dulled yet critical gaze and decided that none of them were good enough to protect him. He doubted that they would be able to protect him from bandits, that was what he had officially asked for and he at least expected that much from the great village. The drunk's doubts were not only his; it was their first team mission and it was actually a good cause of worry.

"I think that my studen-students and I are good enough to protect you from anything that tries to attack you." Kakashi said while correcting his mistake before anyone could notice. His words seemed to put the drunken man's mind at ease enough for him to pay the money that it cost for the group of ninja. "Alright, meet us at the Front Gate in two hours" Kakashi told his genin before puffing out of sight. The three students looked at each other dryly before Naruto turned to the drunken client.

"Meet us all at the gate in four hours, and prepare yourself for the hangover!" Naruto said while ending in a yell before he puffed away to his small apartment to pack.

"What he said." Sasuke added before he too puffed away. Sakura looked at the remaining smoke before giving a small sigh of annoyance and then proceeded to walk out of the room.

~Four Hours Later~

Naruto jumped down from the last tree that led to the main gate and quickly took notice of the now half sober Tazuna that had been waiting for them.

"So, I guess that you didn't take our advice then huh?" Naruto asked, causing Tazuna to jump and spin around. This was a dumb move due to the ever nearing hangover and the man instantly felt a strong headache from the sudden movement.

"I thought ninja were supposed to be punctual." He stated rather than asked

"Most are," Naruto began to explain "but our team leader is always late and we don't want to sit around waiting for him all of the time." He finished while motioning to where the client had been sitting.

"Huh" was his clever response, nothing else was said until the rest of the group had come together and set out. As the main gates opened, Naruto felt himself exhaling a breath of relief as he was no longer in the village. It was the first time he had ever been beyond those walls and while he was excited and relieved, he was also a bit on the anxious side about the new environments he would undoubtedly be seeing. For now, at least, it was all still a thick forest, he could live with that.

The group walked without pause, their only disruption being Tazuna needing to stop to use the rest room. Naruto stared at the ground beneath him and noticed a slight difference in the color of the dirt. He let himself be distracted by this and focused solo on the shade of dirt until he realized something.

'Since when is dirt blue?' Naruto almost asked out loud before looking up to see if he had been daydreaming. 'Nope' Naruto thought to himself 'The sky's still blue too.' He then looked to the group of people near him and took notice that they all had been glowing slightly in different shades. The amount each of them glowed varied as much as the color. He looked first to analyze Kakashi; he goes a slight gray/silver hue and sizzled slightly in small amounts of electricity, Sasuke had a bit of a mix of colors but mostly red with a little bit of sizzling energy similarly to Kakashi, Sakura was next and she grew much less then Sasuke, who glowed like a flashlight in the dark, and had a slight mix of brown, green, and pink. Tazuna was the last person and he barley glowed, his color being unstable, Naruto looked back to the floor beneath me. The glowing was only really in a certain area but was spread out enough to tint the floor with two slightly different shades of blue. His eyes widened in surprise as he realized that he had been looking at everyone's internal energy, slight horror in the realization that they were not alone. At the moment of this realization, two men sprang up from a nonexistent puddle that had been overlooked, the two springing to attacks the two closest to the rear: Kakashi and Naruto. Kakashi puffed into a piece of shattered wood, an allusion of blood spraying on the floor and the attacker. Shock flashed through the the several other genin's eyes, horror following quickly, as the second attacker made a violent slash at the momentarily paralyzed blonde. He made a cry of pain as the bladed claws sliced his back, arm, and front in one go, making his glowing red blood fly out of his being at the insertions. Sakura made a screech of the blonde's name as the boy fell to the ground, his blood still leaking, as Sasuke sprang forward to meet the assassin's blade with his own as his shock at the sudden attack wore off as adrenaline replaced it instantly. There was a cling noise as the two blades met as Sasuke's more advanced training payed off. Sasuke managed to keep the other at bay for a mere five seconds of attack before the other attacker raced past, aiming his eager blade at the their true target with the intent to kill. Tazuna gave an indigent screech of fear just before a kunai deflected the attacker's aimed blade.

"So, the Demon Brothers decide to sink low enough as to attack a group of Konohan ninja?" Kakashi asked lazily with a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice. Sasuke smirked at the now tied up brothers and walked to the other's side, pausing slightly and looked towards Naruto, who was now sitting up and looking towards their sensei with a slight look of hurt. He had an arm pressed to the other in an attempt to slow the bleeding enough so he wouldn't pass out before it were all healed. Sasuke turned his gaze into an emotionless one, and turned away to join his teacher. Sakura rushed towards the blonde but stopped suddenly, as if remembering something, and walked away from the demonic child. After all, demons didn't deserve affection.

Naruto forced himself to stand as his body healed itself completely, though his internal turmoil still bleed into his soul painfully. He walked to rejoin the others, who had knocked out the two attackers and had begun to walk away on the path without him, as if he weren't there. As Naruto passed the two brothers he passed and looked at them before walking towards them and raiding them of all of their belongings, sealing it all into himself and consuming what appeared to be an antidote the the poison that had begun to make the blonde feel nauseous. By then the others had made it out of sight, never once stopping to check to see if the blonde had followed. Demon's didn't deserve human kindness.

Naruto sped up a bit, a pain exploding inside of him as his internal demons released KI inside of his mind, tough the many seals made it remain there. He knew that they were only trying to help and that it wasn't their fault but it always gave him a migraine that lasted for hours every time it was this bad. Naruto bit back tears, even Tazuna, who had no idea of what he was, had left him without care. Tossed him aside when his usefulness was nonexistent.

" **Just like every other mortal, they only ever use you for your worth and toss you away like last week's trash.** " Kurama hissed to him, her anger getting the better of her. She hated most humans after all, and never realized the effect her comments had on the blonde's already damaged mind. Naruto sniffles before choking back his tears, forcing his hormones to become usual again and barring his negative emotions, forcing a perfect smile onto his face to mask his pain before running to rejoin his quote on quote "friends" with a sense of normality, ignoring the phantom pains that seemed to attack him at every movement.

~Unknown Time, Unknown Place~

A small malnourished boy sat in the corner of a metal cage, trembling and holding onto his nearly nude figure with both cold and fear. The metal chain on his neck and limbs doing nothing to help him in his efforts to find the missing warmth whom he so longed for. The sound of a heavy metal door scraping the old tiles of the floor pierced the previous silence, three figures walking into the room with distinctive taps sounding their way over the sudden sound of animalistic screeches that had been held off by the soundproof walls and bolted door. The first person, this one having pinkish hair tied up high in a bun, opened his cage door and grabbed his chain, the one that connected to neck, and gave a hearty pull. The small boy was flung outside if the cage in moments before being grabbed by the men behind her and brought into the other room for today's experiments, which had become more and more painful by the day. By the time it all ended, the boy' throats had become hoarse from screams that he had once promised himself to never make again, a promise that had been broken in a way similarly to his ever diminishing spirit. He whimpered as his bindings were unlocked, releasing him from the table before he was dropped onto a cart and strapped down once more, the sound of wheals being the only thing to let the damaged child that he was being moved. Once again the sounds of animalistic screeches rang through his abused eardrums as he paused through a dark room that stretched on, various cages littering the walls and giving way to pitch black darkness, the only sign of life inside being their cries for help, for release from the pain being given by them through the experiments, cries that wished for death, that and their now glowing eyes.

This startled the child as he had never before seen their eyes glow and knew from experience that normal eyes did _not_ do that. He was torn away from his musings as the door heavy door shut behind him and he was unstrapped from the cart before being chained into the cage. The cold floor greeted the boy and he shivered once more, he was certain now that it was colder in here then it should be, it was warmer in the other room to the point for him to be at least somewhat comfortable. Now, though, he felt the cold grasp of the metallic bars and stone floor beneath him drain what little comfort he had left. The wounds in his body began to quickly heal with speed it had never done before.

The man smirked at him evilly at the sight as he closed the soundproof door behind him and stacked over to the cage, getting out a few things from the cart as he went. To the boy's horror the items where a needle, a knife, and a whip with small blades attacked along the end. The man tortured the poor, making him cry out in pain and fear as if hoping to be saved, such a thing never happened. As usual, the man eventually left with his cart and a content smile plastered onto his face at his actions, leaving a bloody mess behind him. The man opened the door before halting instantly in fear as a pink-haired woman stood behind it with cold eyes, this woman was in charge of most everything in here. The man gulped at being found out, the boy smiling to himself at the feeling of redemption as he felt the man would be punished at some degree for his actions, his smile falling off quickly as he found that not happening. The woman turned her icy green eyes towards the boy and mouthed a single sentence before his torture restarted with new vigor. You're not worth mercy


	15. Chapter 15

They Arrive

The group continued walking as if nothing had happened, Naruto and Sasuke arguing over simple matures from time to time, and the group-minus Tazuna-had returned to their usual ways of normality. Tazuna had stopped speaking for the duration of the trip and would occasionally glance towards the blonde ninja in concern but never spoke his mind. Soon enough the group made it to a foggy lake, which led its way into the ocean, and found an awaiting dock. The unfamiliar cent of lake water hit Naruto's sensitive nose and he paused slightly, letting the others get into the boat before being shoved in by his raven-haired teammate.

"What's wrong, dobe, afraid of the water?" The Uchiha mocked as he too jumped in. He was quoted by the owner of the boat quickly, the blonde decide not to respond. Sakura, who had previously associated herself with the blonde, grew angered at the lack of response.

"Don't ignore Sasuke-kun you Baka!" She yelled loudly, punching the blond in the back of the head angrily. Aneurism grinned at her, making her even more pissed at him, but if she had looked closely-or known what she was looking for-she would have noticed the sadness in his eyes. She was about to yell again before being harshly shushed by the boat's owner.

'So...she was faking it. She was faking her kindness towards me.' Naturopathic muttered to himself mentally

" **What do you expect from the likes of a human? They're all selfish creatures of jealousy and vanity.** " Kurama said in a calmer tone then usual, though her anger was still obvious to the blonde. Naruto didn't respond to his motherly figure as he sat silently through the rest of the ride.

The boat eventually met land again, Tazuna speaking to the boat's owner for a little while before they all left. As the group walked, Naruto's eyes suddenly widened as he felt the familiar tingle of a shunshin nearby. He continued to walk though, never turning around as they walked. The mist began to thicken quickly but he still ignored it, faking ignorance to the ever growing fear in his stomach. They made it to town before anything actually happened, some thugs-underlings of some man named Gato-came near their group, a sinister aura fanning behind them. The main man of the group stared at Sakura as if she were some form of prize meant to be stolen from a helpless child, a look of hunger in his eyes. Naruto did not have time to notice this, however, as he was starring directly into the glare of some thug with a look similar to the one Sakura had been receiving. The man licked his lips slightly and Naruto felt his claws grow. When had they stopped walking? The two small groups, both mere feet away from the other, stayed in place with near perfect silence, the sound of Tazuna's horried feet moving being the main noise to disrupt their silence. A distant snap of a twig triggered action, the ninja easily overpowering the untrained thugs. Naruto had disappeared from his target's line of sight, only to reappear behind him with his fist in tow. He smashed his head with a scary amount of force behind the blow, the thug flinging to the ground from the force, his brain moving just barely moving slower then the head and causing it to hit the skull knocking the man out instantly. Naruto looked at the man with an innocent look in his eye as he had not meant to hit that hard

'Whoops' he said mentally, Kurama smirking slightly with a proud look in her eye as she had sent a small amount of chakra to her capture's muscles to power them above their normal ability. No one was allowed to look at any of her kits that way, no one! Naruto turned his head to view his "friends" to see them all fighting their own enemies a distance away, though Sakura was having some obvious trouble. Her assailant was the largest of the five that had taken to attacking them, and her attacker appeared to have chosen her for a purpose unknown to the blonde. He poked his tongue out and tasted the air, the all too familiar taste of lust setting on his tongue, making his stomach turn to knots at the realization. He ran up behind the fighting pair silently and aimed a kunia, which then slipped through the air louder then Naruto had ran to them and twice as fast. It impaled the man's throat with a squirt of blood that splattered Sakura's face as she was about to land a semi weak punch upon the other, said action seized as she froze in shock, her eyes moved about to find the cause of the sudden warm liquid that squirted her, red liquid stung her eye as it slid down her forehead. Blood. She realized the liquid to be blood, her eyes widened when she realized this and braced for pain, pain that never came. A dull thunk sounded from just before her and she reopened her eyes to see her assailant had fallen to the ground, hand over throat, as he gurgled for breath as blood filled his lungs, though from what caused the injury she knew not, no weapon was found present and if there was it would be blocked by the man's hand as he tried helplessly to stop the life force from leaving his being. How ironic was it that the red liquid, meant to bring oxygen to his muscles and support his life was the very thing that would take it from him. Sakura stared wide eyed as she watched the person before him die a slow death. The man glared at her as if to say she was the one who had done this to him, the one that had killed him. Sakura stood, frozen in terror, until Sasuke and Kakashi had come to get her, Kakashi having to carry her off as she herself had passed out from shock. None of them noticed the lone blonde that swiped all trinkets and valuables from the deceased, nor did they notice the blonde's absence and then sudden reappearance. They only took notice of his presence when they actually arrived to Tazuna's home and he spoke from the back of the group

"So if this Gato guy wants you dead for you building the bridge..." he began to the shock and announce of someone whom had longed him dead " then what's stopping him and his goons from getting you before you're done?" He finished. Tazuna's eyes widened in realization, he hadn't thought of his protection after he had returned, he never thought that he would get this far in the first place! Sasuke had already begun to walk back the way they came when Tazuna's began to plead with them to remain at his guard.

"Please?!" He cried in desperation once again. The squad of ninjas shared glances in a silent discussion of what they should do, ending with the silent agreement and a few nods from the group before the team leader announced their unanimous decision

"We will stay for the time being." He announced, giving a closed smile towards their client "What kind of ninja would we be if we allowed our clients to die on us?" He asked, being led inside by Tsunami to the room they would sleep in. It had a single bed and was rather small spacing for the rest of the room but Naruto was still excited; the bedding was well kept and the blankets were much thicker then Naruto's own. Naruto jumped on it and bounced, Sasuke rolling his eyes at the childish behavior. Sakura scowled and punched the top of Naruto's head

"Ouch!" Naruto cried, grabbing his head in pain as he gave a whine of pain.

"That's what you get for jumping on the bed like a preschooler!" Sakura announced, eyes glaring at the blonde "And it's rude to jump on someone else's bed! Especially when you're not the one sleeping in it!" She continued, preparing to swing again. Naruto dodged the offending fist and grabbed the top blanket, twisting his body into it like a cocoon and falling off of the bed. Before Sakura could react he was rolling under the bed and making his nest

"If you guys get the bed then I get the blanket!" Naruto's yelled came muffled from beneath the bed

"What's going on in here?" A young boy asked as he poked his head into the guest room

"Nothing, Naruto's just being a dobe again." Sakura answered, giving the child the best smile she could.

"Who's Naruto?" He asked, said blonde popping his head out from beneath the bed

"Hello!" He yelled before ducking back in, Sakura's foot slamming into the ground where his head was. Inari flinched in shock at the oddly golden eyes that had glanced at him in those few moments.

"Um..." Inari said dumbly, still shocked at the scene before him.

"Inari honey? May you please come down stares and help mommy set up the table?" Tsunami asked from the kitchen

"Coming!" Inari responded, quickly going down the stares as requested.

"Well he's nice." Naruto stated from behind Sakura, making the girl jump and fall off of the bed. She fell on her face and stayed there for ten long seconds before jumping up and swinging her fist towards Naruto again.

"NARUTO YOU DUMBASS!" She yelled

~Downstairs~

"Well, that just happened." Tazuna drawled as he took a swig from his bottle, another loud thump and more yelling resounding from upstairs.

"YOU FUCKING BAKA!" Sakura yelled from upstairs, moments afterwards Naruto suddenly appeared from behind Inari with a large blanket hanging over one shoulder. Inari made a squeak noise when Naruto suddenly picked the boy up and tossed him over his shoulder

"Come along my minion, we must escape the banshee of pink!" Naruto exclaimed, running out from the kitchen with a confused Inari who was now riding on piggy back with Sakura running close behind, yelling profanities all of the way.

"Should we go stop them?" Tsunami asked

"Inari's outside again, this is the closest to happy I've seen him in a while." Tazuna said with a slight smile, Kakashi rubbing the back of his head at their antics.

"NARUTO!" Sakura yelled again, Naruto laughing all the way


	16. Chapter 16

Diner and the Stars

/A:N/ BLUEBERRY SEASON! So tasty, so sweet and sour, nummy nummy blueberries.

When things powered down everyone helped set up the table and cook the meal, Sasuke and Naruto getting along for the time being and both assisting with the work. They ended up eating a cooked deer stew, which was something unique to Naruto and therefore something exciting. Inari, who was sitting beside Naruto, couldn't help but snicker at the blonde's exclamation of the similarities between the stew and his favorite dish of ramen.

"Fifths please!~" Naruto pleaded, Inari giving another snicker as he was still on his second bowl

"My my, what an appetite" Tsunami said as she refilled the bowl again, Sakura gave Naruto a dirty look

"Naruto! You realize that you're mooching off their food you DOBE!" Sakura screeched as she sent a fist in his direction, Naruto puffed to the sealing, his bowl spilling a hot droplet onto her head as she looked up, the liquid spilling dangerously close to her eye. "NARUTO!" She cried in anger, wiping at her face with clear rage, Kakashi looking on with surprise and shock as he watched Naruto crouch on the rather high ceiling, one hand touching the high surface and the other holding the upright bowl. "Seriously! This town is poor! People are dying of hunger in the streets and you have the gall to eat up all of their food?!" Sakura hollered after him before suddenly turning to Kakashi "Kakashi-sensei! Get Naruto down here and tell him off!" Kakashi sighed before puffing up to the ceiling with his self-famed eye smile, taking hold of the bowl before puffing down to the table

"Now Naruto, food stays at the table, ok?" He asked in a pleasant tone, setting down the still hot bowl, Naruto made a muttered response. "Please speak up Naruto or else your word doesn't count." Kakashi responded

"Fine" Naruto groaned, letting go of the ceiling wall and dropping himself down. He landed in a crouch on the table

"Show off" Sasuke muttered, sending a glare at the blonde

"Like you aren't one" Naruto retorted, moving back to his spot while avoiding Sakura's rage

"DON'T TALK BACK TO SASUKE-KUN!" She screeched

" **Someone shut the banshee up! Please!** " Someone from within Naruto cried into Naruto's head. Naruto calmly looked at Sakura with a slightly smug look and said in a different language

"Make me bitch" he responded, most everyone looking at him oddly as they hadn't known that he knew any other language, he stuck out his tongue towards Sakura "You have no idea what I'm saying right now, so I'll tell you that you look and act like a wore desperate for Uchiha dick" Naruto continued, the laughter within him raging, he continued while ignoring Kurama's twitchy silence as her kit cussed in the demonic language. Naruto full on smirked "Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch!" Sakura had by then caught on that Naruto had been making fun of her and had started chasing him with her fists ready "Can't catch me" he cooed sarcastically, jumping away from her unswift movements with the grace of a kitsune spirit

"If you won't speak Japanese then don't speak at all!" Sakura yelled as she tried after him, finding that the blond was always just out of her grasp, Naruto leapt onto the upper wall, just below the ceiling

"Miss me, miss me, now you gotta kiss me!" Naruto cried laughingly, unaware of just how much this would piss off the other ninja

"IN YOUR DREAMS, BAKA!" Sakura bellowed as I began to run out of yelling words and my audience loosing patience for my fourth-wall-destruction. Naruto only had time to mutter a single "fuck" in his foreign language before being forced to duck under the now quicker fist of the pinkette. 

~Night time~

Sasuke grumbled in his sleep, moving to the edge of the bed to avoid the other person the best he could. The other sleeping person moved closer, forcing the raven to move again and fall off and onto the floor. He jumped up in announce and shoved the pinkette off before jumping back on the mattress. Naruto slept soundly from his place beneath the springs with the large comforter cocooning his being. Kakashi walked into the room when he heard a thud and seeatdropped at the scene of Sasuke grumbling in annoyance. The next day he would begin training Sas-the team how to tree walk, though Naruto seemed to already know how that didn't bother his plans any. He would let the kids sleep, or try to sleep, and closed the door. He snickered slightly as he watched Sasuke try to claim the bed, only for Sakura to sneak in and slowly try to cling onto the annoyed raven once more. He snickered again and closed the door, slowly so as to not disturb the pair and walking away and back to the living room couch where he went to sleep.

~Outside~

Eyes peered down upon the home with the focus of a predator stalking its prey, he hadn't been too pleased when such a lowly job had been passed on to him but here he was, watching a pair of prepubescent teens subconsciously fight for the right to the bed. The boy next to the predatory assassin looked up towards his master.

"What do you wish us to do Zabuza-Sama?" The masked child asked, any possible expression numbed by the emotionless mask. Zabuza scoffed at the idea of a sneak attack, way too easy. No, he wanted to enjoy this kill, give them hope just before smashing them down.

"For now, nothing" Zabuza responded "Let's watch them for a while, they just might amuse us." Haiku nodded at his master's decision, though that didn't mean he had to like the plan.

"Understood"

~Next Day, 2:00 am~

Naruto crawled out from his hidy-whole, stuffing his blanket in the farthest reach of the underside before tip toeing away from the pair of sleeping genin. All throughout the night he had been forced to listen to grunts and the creaking of the bed's springs and, while he was amused, it had cut into his precious sleep, not that he had gotten much anyway considering the current date, only one day away before that day, the day that haunted his nightmares above every other.

Sure others were bad but not as much as this one, the repeated pain of various ways of reception had conditioned his mind to fear the very date of the horrid day. Naruto held his breath at the thought of the day and had to pause in his motion before continuing onwards. He forced himself to calm and moved onwards and into the bathroom, not bothering to turn on the lights as his eyes saw through the darkness with ease. The sun had yet to rise, the sky still being an ocean of inky blue and purple with and endless number of tinkling white dots decorating the blue and purple hues. Naruto glanced at them through a window before turning back to the mirror before him.  
He sighed as he looked at his growing bags, soon they might notice if he didn't fix them soon. He touched one of his eye's shadow and rubbed it slightly with two of his fingertips and prodded at them worriedly. He then turned to his whisker marks and gently caressed one of the lines, the odd sensation of the touch always confused him but he had learned early on that they produced demonic energy, small amounts that he could then use. He continued to touch the smooth lines for a few more minutes until he felt enough usable energy in his system to force away the shaded area underneath his eyelids. They faded away after a bit of hard focusing, little of the demonic energy left over which he stored away for later use, though he still felt tired. Even with this being true the idea of sleep refused him, nightmares of the past and possible future taunting him whenever his eyelids pleaded for a prolonged pause of use.  
Naruto ended up going up to the roof and stared at the night sky, a luxury he rarely was able to enjoy unless the situation was just right. Here he didn't need to worry about that though, and if anyone did try to harm him he would be allowed to fight back, this thought comforting him enough for his troubled mind to allow him to relax, or try to anyway. As he sat down on the roof and lost himself in the sounds of the woodland creatures and the low murder of the wind through the surrounding tree's leaves. Naruto's eyes grew heavy again and almost closed when he heard something, someone stepping? He looked around him, ears that he hadn't known were out alert and upright. Whomever had moved below had stopped in their movements, their chakra being hidden too well for him to track. Naruto stared into the trees for a longer period of time before finally giving up, though this time he never relaxed. The cool air was enjoyable out here and the view unlike his home's back there were clothing hanging around buildings and he had never had a proper balcony, only an old window that never seemed to close all of the way, it was always a pain in the ass whenever the weather became unfavorable. The window did however give him access to part of the roof so it wasn't entirely a hinderance, though that still didn't erase the water damage from whenever it rained. Naruto gave an almost content sigh, tired ears drooping as his eyelids grew heavy again. He made a slight jerk when his head had fallen, having had fallen asleep for a mere moment, and wrapped his now out wings around him for extra warmth. Five tails curled around whatever possible, two snaking around the chimney he had been leaning on while the other three wrapped around his lower being. The fur was ruff and in need of brushing, not too mention proper washing, and his wings had become disorganized and were in desperate need for some preening.

"I wonder if I can still fly like this..." Naruto mumbled as he sorted through some of the disorganized feathers. He decided against the idea and resumed his warm cocoon, relaxing more and his eyelids becoming heavy once more. His breath evened out and his body relaxed as sleep found him, no dream nor nightmare having yet started as his body continued to calm. He thought he had heard a gentle swoosh but felt a warm energy, demonic, lick at his insides and relaxing him more, preventing his calm state from dissipating. Someone touched the side of his face to look at the boy, his eyes still closed, and hummed before gently setting him back down.

"I've finally found you, jinchuriki." She said lowly, a slight glare on her face. She sighed slightly as she realized her mother likely wouldn't allow the death of the child, much less Edward's own approval. She growled, Naruto squaring in his sleep before the feminine demon took notice in what the boy was. There was no way she would be allowed to end the boy now, much less would it be possible. She patted the boy on the head, gently rubbing the smooth ears, before turning to leave to bare knees of the events to the others. She paused and looked down at one of her hands, a white serpentine-like dragon sliding off and gaining in size. It's hollow, glowing eyes peered at her with question, the creature's detached body moving into place and claws settled into a position similar to a hand or paw. "Protect him from the shadows, let no one attempt to harm him whilst his back is turned." Nightingale instructed sternly "Return to me once either I return or he returns to his place of living." She continued before disappearing into the darkness of the night. The creature, whom appeared as if its being was designed out of floating chunks of rounded flesh, only certain areas being physically attached to each other and same pieces not being rounded or smooth. It opened its mouth, jaw never being attached but fitting into place comfortably and tongue slinking itself into the mouth. Once the creature had truly assembled itself, something only done after extended episodes of being unused, it sunk into the shadows and watched the boy with determined flames within deep shadows for eyes. Its head gave a sudden twist as it heard a sound, the sound of the smallest bit of movement. The shadow disappeared into the night's own, awaiting any harm to come to the blonde demon before it would strike like a python to kill whatever possible prey. A masked boy stared on with sharp eyes at blonde boy, having had watched everything and was now unsure of what action should be taken. He sunk back into an ice mirror, his form of transportation, to return to his master to bare the knew news.


	17. Chapter 17

A Meeting With Inari

Naruto's eyelids twitched as the sun beat down apron his face, making sleep difficult to maintain and forcing him awake. The birds chirped in the trees, singing to one another as if to entice a mate or call to a parent in hopes of the first meal. The wind gently messed with Naruto's locks of blonde spikes, tickling his ears slightly and making them twitch. That got him up, standing with a start and a slight yelp of surprise he slipped and fell onto his rump, landing almost painfully on his five tails. He groaned as he patted his tails in hopes of fixing the messy fur before forcing them away with a slight glow. Once this was done he slid down the roof, grabbing in the rim and swinging into the open window with ease. He landed on his bare feet and walked to the bathroom to wait his turn, Sakura having already woken up and started taking a shower with her home-brought soaps, making the area smell as if it were a loaded with flowers, an overpopulating flower bed to be precise, which would have been enjoyable if not for the sensitivity of Naruto's nose. The sent stung and he could feel a slight headache begin to form. Naruto decided to avoid this area of the house and shower after the cent had gone down. He moved to the kitchen and sat at the table, boredom plane on his face, and waited for the sound of an opening door. He sat there for a while before suddenly growing aware that he was being stared at from behind. He turned around quickly to see that Kakashi had moved to stand directly behind him, his face rather close to his own.

"G-good morning Kakashi-Sensei!" Naruto greeted after a prolonged silence, putting on a smile

"I know" Kakashi stated, moving to the chair before the blonde

"Hm?" Naruto asked, confused and frightened

"I know what you've done" He continued, his single showing eye glaring "Demon scum" he added. Naruto had heard this phrase before, many many times actually, it was what the people who orchestrated his suffering-or to put it more simply organized groups who hated him-would call him. People only ever call him this specific thing right to his face after speaking to someone else who had given him torture or tortured him at one point of time. The very first time someone had called him that was when a group of three had caught him just after he began living on the streets and had began to peel his flesh away with objects similar to large potato peelers. It hurt like hell, like nothing else had before hand. That was the first real torture session as before that he had been under the protection of a nice old lady in an orphanage. He was kicked out after she died and his life seemed to quickly become worse and worse afterwards.

"What are you two talking about?" Tazuna questioned, now sober, as he walked into the room and patted his head as if to rid himself of his headache.

"Nothing" Kakashi lied, standing up and moving to the fridge "Today I'm training my students to tree walk." He paused as if in thought "Naruto here will guard you from the trees." He declared, sending Naruto a threatening glare that dared him to speak against his word.

~Unknown Time, Unknown Place~

An elderly woman held the young and bleeding newborn slightly above her sagging chest, trying to calm down the young babe's wails. The person who had given the young being to her held an empty, cold look within his eyes, the person behind him holding a small bag file with bloody clumps of flesh, fur, and feathers. Due to the healing ability of any normal demon the limbs and other articles of being would eventually grow back but for now the young child appeared human, hopefully the way he would be raised. Demon feathers are sold on the black market for hundreds, sometimes thousands, and could easily make a single man rich if he knew the right people. Danzo glanced at the bag within his grasp and grinned maliciously, any trace of his past sanity having been torn away years ago, and he looked towards his companion who had held the child down. His newly redone Hokage robes were stained in blood and would have to be thrown away, not that the messy liquid bothered him much. He and his group turned away and began to walk back to Danzo's base of operation after leaving the bleeding child with the aged woman. She had always wanted children but due to an issue with her womb she was unable to produce her own.  
She had started a orphanage prior but was now flooded with the newly orphaned children from after the Kyuubie's (I feel like I spelt that wrong) most recent attempt of escape. Buildings still crackled with fire and the many children wept within her underfunded building. She blew a gray-pink hair out of her face and walked back to her home and workplace.

~With Naruto, Present time~

Naruto sat bored as he watched Tazuna from afar, eyeing the group of workers as they continued to develop the partially made bridge. It was halfway done now, only needing a few more days to connect the two halves together but the stretch of area between the two done parts was spacious. Naruto wondered vaguely whether or not they would have enough would to finish before remembering what he was sitting on, any doubt of their wood supplies vanishing quickly. His demon family had begun to worry him with their ongoing silence as he had long since gotten used to not being able to hear himself think. The silence gave him a better ability to hear and notice things he heard however and this seemed to assist him as his ears caught the sound of someone walking below.  
He peered down and saw the kid from before. Inari walked onwards, Naruto deciding to follow him while leaving a shadow clone behind in his place to take his job. He watched as Inari walked to some old, breaking dock, as if by pure instinct, and sat at it's damp edge. The boy stared at the fog and mist that blocked the distant horizon, as if in thought. Naruto landed next to the boy from the tree, falling to the ground and landing in a crouch, before siting next to the younger child.

"Why" Inari's voice asked, never looking up

"Why what?" Naruto questioned quietly

"Why do you even bother?" He clarified, his eyes hidden by his bangs slightly, his head faced downwards

"Because that's our job." Naruto replied, his eyes now closed

"Well, your job is going to get you killed." Inari replied, a small tremor coming to his voice "There is no such thing as heroes."

"I think I'll be alright" Naruto said with a grin, looking upwards and into the sky

"You just think that 'cause no one's hurt you yet" Inari mumbled befriend raises his voice slightly when he spoke next "Once someone does that, you'll be dead for sure." Naruto never looked at him, his head remaining raised. His smile seemed to become slightly strained, as if forced slightly

"I already am"


	18. Chapter 18

Haku and Demons

While Sasuke and Sakura learned under Kakashi for the day, Naruto continued to chat with Inari. Their conversations didn't last too long, Naruto having to leave as his clone puffed itself out from existence to relay some important information to him.

"I need to go" Naruto said suddenly, standing up and preparing to dash away

"But what did you mean-" but by the time Inari spoke, Naruto had already ran off. 

~Elsewhere~

Haku stood hidden from view and with his aura made as small as possible, so small that he didn't notice his chakra become numb to him until it was far too late. With no chakra available, and no weapon other than the three needles held within his grasp available, Haku was quickly rendered helpless.  
Haku twisted around when he heard air rushing behind him, something so faint he had almost missed it, and threw his needles. This was a mistake, he soon realized, as he had forgotten that he had replaced all of the weapons from his person and had left his others with his boss when he had went out to get herbs and had never went back to retrieve them. He was quickly pinned to the tree he had used a a hiding spot, the other having had swooped onto him as if he a bird of prey and Haku the hunted creature of interest. Haku tried to turn his head around so as to see his attacker but found himself pinned to well, only able to see a portion of wild, unkept feathers from a large wing.

"Who are you?" A voice, male and slightly younger then Haku, demanded.

"I would ask you the same question" Haku responded, his chest heaving slightly from adrenaline as it surged his system. "Or rather, what" he corrected. The other pushed Haku harder against the tree and a slight animalistic growl was heard, varying awkwardly between deeper and lighter tones as if from both an older creature and a much younger.

" **I** asked **you** " the other growled lowly, voice randomly becoming demonic. The pressure lessened to a more reasonable pressure, still being powerful enough so as to keep the other pinned to the bark.

"Haku" Haku finally weeded after another level of pressure was forced on his back and side, almost strong enough to remove air from his lungs

"Were you hunting the bridge builder?" The voice asked, pressure remaining the same.

"No" Haku replied honestly through his near air-less lunges. He heard something sniff him and he was suddenly released

"I believe you" Naruto said in a much more docile voice, calmer. His hair quickly returned to its softer spikes rather than the almost electric mess it had been moments earlier and his whiskers returned to their defined, slim marks. His eyes faded from red to yellow, before transitioning to a mixture of blues, indigos, and violets. He sat on his haunches, his five tails resting on the wood of the large branch, and eyed Haku curiously, the other quickly matching the action as he had never seen something quit like the being before him.  
"To answer your question-" Naruto began, pausing for effect "I am-" he paused again, as if not sure what to say

" **A demon, that's what you are my kit** " kurama told Naruto

"...I'm a demon"

A long pause came after this revelation

"I doubt it" Haku stated, breaking the silence, at a lack of response, he continued "My people claimed me to be of demonic blood and tried to kill me and people of similar faults. Your faults, while much larger, seem fairly similar to my own." Haku continued, unaware of the fury of those that fell under demonic standards who were watching.

 _"_ _ **FAULTS?!"**_ Someone hollered from within Naruto, who quickly blocked them out as their rant began.

"You reeeaaaally should watch what you say" Naruto said in a slow drawl "You never know who you're going to insult, and what they'll do in response." The look on Naruto's face...the only way to describe it was creepy. His eyes were like a combination of water and oil once it was lit ablaze, the colors swimming from the many different shades of green, blue, indigo, and purple. If it weren't for the fact that Haku was so close to the other, he wouldn't have been able to see the ocean of colors. Only one of his eyes was entirely in view as the boy's head had been tilted and some of his bangs coating half of one of his eyes. His facial expression was almost blank as he spoke, yet he bore a smile on his lips. 

Haku remained in place, one arm on his knee while his other rested firmly on the ground beside his other side's knees, he was kneeling and had his head bowed slightly.

"Why have you returned so soon?" Zabuza questioned in a demanding yet calm tone.

"There has been a new update on the bridge builder's current guardians, I was unable to truly see the progress of his construction before interference showed itself, we may have issues in the near future concerning our task." Haku replied formally, tone respectful and obedient.

"Interference? You mean to say that the Jonin saw you?" Zabuza asked, almost threateningly. Haku shook his head

"The silver haired ninja did not, nor do I believe him to know of us yet. It was the blonde one that found me, Master-Sama." Haku' head was angled to look at Zabuza yet his eyes were out of view due to the mask that blocks off his identity.

"Hmm" Zabuza mused for a moment, glancing out of his current room's window "we may have to act before he can warn the others, but first, explain to me everything that happened."


	19. Chapter 19

Search

/A:N/ Warning! Gore! Things will start to pick up now (finally)

A scream sounded from within the forest during the dead of night, blood splattering against the bark and forest floor. The short man continued to cry out as the yellow creature continued to tear at the man's abdomen and soon the stomach, ripping out the first squishy organ that was found

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The man gurgled

" **Too damn late** " a demonic voice hissed, a second creature suddenly jumping jag out, already coated in scarlet, and tore out the man's windpipe in one swift motion.

~A Few Hours Earlier~

Nightingale reappeared into a land, similar to that of a more western country side. Wild grasses and flower stuck out from the ground with a length that almost extended to her knees. The wind forced the grass to gently bend to one side and played with the leaves of a distant, old tree. An old swing moved slightly along with the leaves, going back and forth just barely, as if the ghost of those that had once used it remained and still swing on its now aged and weak wood with childish wonder. There was nothing remaining of the house that had once stood and owned the tree swing other than some ash and blackened wood. Nightingale was honestly surprised that the tree had not been harmed considering how close it was to the ruined house. She turned her head back and forth for a few seconds before realizing that the creature she desired to find was not here. She furrowed her brow in concentrated as she focused on trying to find the creature's energy.

"Were is he?" She mumbled, finding his chakra to be nowhere in her capabilities of sight. Dropping to the ground, she began to sniff, crawling around in all fours and making movements that would cause any sane human to call an exorcist. His scent was faint, but present. After approximately three hours, she found a train track where the scent was cut off. Someone screamed when they saw her, the way her shadow seemed to act as if it were possessed by the spirit of a fire and mimic one's actions, licking the ground around where she blocked the light and scorching anything living she allowed it to touch. It quickly silenced the mortal that had dared to alert others of her presence, though she wasn't at all concerned of whether or not he knew her, as the person was obviously from the city, but she did quickly hide away from view when she heard others coming.  
She hid in one of the box cars and was patient as she watched the land move, bringing her close and closer to the city. Focusing on finding the scent, on the energy, of the creature she wanted to find. The scent picked up again suddenly and she leapt out from the train's car, shifting into an entirely animalistic form and sprinting onwards as the scent went on.  
After a longer while, the scent led her to some storage apartment long abandoned. As she walked, someone that seemed to hold resemblance to both gender walked past, his almost pine tree hair sticking up from his hooded jacket. Nightingale jumped up to on of the windows, which had been smashed beforehand from something or someone else. She peered around, his scent was everywhere here, and tried to figure out just where he was. She let herself land on the dirt ground, only to be pounded by a similar creature, this one having three slimmer tails and his tips were red rather than a light indigo. He hissed and snarled at her with entirely animalistic, constricted eyes. She withheld a growl of her own, pushing the other off of her quickly and jumping up to on of the support beams.

" **Stop it** " she growled before straightening up, lowering her head and tilting it downwards so that she and the other had their eyes aligned " **it's me** " there was almost desperation in her voice, almost. His eyes focused on her for a second, unsure and confused, before realization snapped into his golden orbs. Her gave her a,glare after a moment and snarled lightly, this time with more purpose than before. With a snifter movement, he had jumped upwards and landed easily on one of the balance beams.

" **Well, even if it is you** " he looked over his shoulder and glanced at her " **it doesn't give you the right to barge in to MY den** " this was when she actually received the chance to really look at him. His fur had blackened and burnt away in random places, revealing angry red burns and gashes that had yet to heal completely, half of his fathers had been ripped out as well.

" **What happened to you?** " Nightingale wondered out loud. Edward made a sound akin to a huff

" **Oh nothing** " he drawled sarcastically, snarling at apparently nothing " **Just what happened after our** _ **dear**_ **father told Al what exactly I was** " he snarled again, this time louder " **to think that I spent so many years on that no good, girlfriend stealing, cheating little bastard!** " His voice turned into yells for a second and he slashed out at a chunk of the wooden structure, leaving deep engraved scars into the wood. This was when Nightingale noticed something else, his shoulder joint opposite from his velvet was scared horribly as well as one of his lower limbs near the hip joint. The wound went all around each limb, as if they had been sliced off and then later reattached and his fur had yet to heal over.

" **You look horrible** " Nightingale stated dryly

" **Tell me something I** _ **don't**_ **know!"** He snapped back with another snarl, beginning to pace back and forth on the beam. A portion of his skin and fur had been removed on his neck, going onto one of his cheeks. His ears held back in anger and his three long tails wrapped around the beam as best they could, this was when Nightingale noticed that the fur on one of them had been scalped partially. She seemed to steer herself back to the challenge, responding calmly to the other the news she had come with.

" **I found mama** " Nightingale stated. Edward snapped his head back to his sister

" **You came to get my help, didn't you?** " He asked. Instead of getting an answer, Nightingale walked away

" **We have work to do** " she stated calmly

" **We need to find Ditsy too, right?** " Edward asked, turning his head back to her as he had glanced away, to this she did answer

" **I'll find her later, we need to get back and check up on the jinchuriki.** " Edward's eyes snapped wide with surprise " **but first, let's go get you cleaned up**."

"How long have you been looking for me?" Edward asked, the two people now in a different building. He made a soft hissing noise as some form of alcohol was placed on one of his wounds just before another large bandage was placed on top of the area.

"For a while" Nightingale replied, both were in a form halfway demonic and hallway human. "Time moves faster here than the dimension he's in so it doesn't really matter" she continued with a shrug. Soon enough, Edward was decorated with many different bandages, they were wrapped almost everywhere yet still showed plenty of his skin. Nightingale snapped a picture suddenly, regaining Edward's attention, before hiding the camera away  
"Come on, we need to go" 

/A:N/ TO BE CONTINUED!


	20. Chapter 20

/A:N/ finally! Reunion time~ and yes, this has been my plan since the beginning so be nice, and enjoy! (Will be weird for a bit but bare with me, the blood shall come soon)

Zabuza walked calmly and confidently to where he knew Naruto to be. He would have had Haku do this but he already knew that to be a faulty choice. He heard something from behind him, similar to many small cracking noises and grumbled hisses, before he was suddenly slammed into a nearby tree by the thing's tail. Naruto, having had heard the noise, quickly arrived to the scene from his previous perch on the large tree branch.

"What the-!?" He cried as he quickly noticed the odd serpent-like-creature and the enemy ninja, he moved into an attack stance, only to find that neither were attack him. "Who are you?!" Naruto cried aloud from his attack stance. The creature snapped its large, odd head towards the speaker and stared at him for a brief moment before snapping back towards the downed man, hissing all the while as if it were an actual snake rather than some dragonous imitation. Naruto scooted away from the upcoming fight unto his back hit something, and it definitely wasn't a tree nor rock.

Whomever's' legs he had just bumped into slapped a hand around his mouth to silence him before using the other to blind fold him, yanking his body upwards with the force.

-Naruto's POV

"Don't struggle, make it easier on all of us and just cooperate." A female voice, somehow familiar, hissed into my ear. Another person poked my stomach a few times, humming quietly to theirselves before speaking

"My mom's in your stomach, is it alright if I cut her out?" I heard his sincere, crazed reply over the silence that plagued my mind. Silence, absolute silence. I screamed for their help, pleading for my one and only family to reply, but they seemed to not here me, something blocking our communication. They were never this silent...  
I felt the hold on me loosen and something struck the back of my neck, blackness met me through the darkness that had already consumed my vision.

-Normal POV

"What do we do with him?" Edward asked as he poked Zabuza's stomach with his bandaged foot before a crazed grin split his face. Pulling his leg back, he swung it hard and kicked Zabuza, the man's unconscious body skimming over the moist ground from the previous mist and bumping into another large rock, he couched, a small stream of blood dribbling from his mouth. Edward giggle as if he were an exited child and was about to do the action again before Nightingale spoke up, raising an eyebrow at her brother's ruined psyche.

"They really did a number on you, didn't they?" She mumbled, swinging the smaller body of Naruto onto her shoulder as if he a sack of potatoes. "Bring him with us" she stated, turning away as she walked deeper into the trees's bramble. She could here his childish cry of agreement, followed by the sound of something heavy being dragged, and the bumping of said dragged thing as smaller stones and sticks poked and bumped into the man's body.

~A Few Hours Later~

Naruto's eyes fluttered open, revealing the dim lighting. He glanced around his surroundings, some abandoned and small shelter, wood rotting in the aged walls and hardly anything in the area.

"How long was I out?" Naruto asked aloud before hearing someone groan from wherever they were before becoming silent once again. It was then that he heard the gentle sound of even, if not slightly heavy, breath. He glanced around again and tried to force his eyes to focus on wherever the other was, finding an old cot resting a bit away from him and near a table. Naruto looked around, turning his head back and forth, trying to see a means of escape. The only source of light was behind him, his body casting a shadow before him and revealing another chair behind him and to his side.

With new determination, and a clearer head, Naruto pressed his feet against the floor and began to slowly turn the chair against the old dirt floor, it made multiple scratching noises as it scraped on its way. The sleeping member of the room's occupants made a small whining noise at the sound, groaning again and turning around in the newly added sheets, his bandages rubbing slightly on the blanket.

'Kurama?! Can you here me?!' Naruto cried in his head

" **Where have you been? I've been worried sick!?** " Kurama cried back, her voice sounding as if being through water or some tunnel, or possibly both, before becoming clearer

'I never left, listen, Iv'e been kidnapped by two...I don't know who...and taken to Kami knows where! What should I do?!' Naruto cried in a helpless tone. His chakra seemed to have been stripped away, his seal burned as it absorbed it as if it where nothing but a sip of much needed water. This was an often occurrence, not the kidnapping-though this happened often as well-but he had woken up on so many times from his sleep with this drained feeling, let it be known that not all of his screw ups in the academy were on purpose.

" **Calm down, can you see anything?** " Kurama asked in a demanding tone. If it had been in Konoha, neither of them would question it, but they weren't in Konoha, this was somewhere else entirely.

'It's...just look' Naruto gave the other access to his eyes and felt them move in all directions without his will behind the action.

" **Wait, can you turn the other way?** " Kurama's tone had changed, she knew that presence. Naruto was silent for a moment before forcing himself to turn the chair in the other direction. He had finally managed to get the lump on the bed within view when he saw said lump shift as he groaned again at the noise.

'Who is that Kurama-chan?' Naruto asked, trying to remember anything that might give him a clue on who it was 'Why did he call you mom? Kurama? Hello?' Kurama wasn't answering, too focused on what she could of the other being.

" **I haven't seen him since the fall**..." she mumbled to the void within Naruto. Things went from confusing to un-processable fast, Naruto honestly had no understanding of what was going on by the time he was untied. What little he did comprehend was that Kuruma somehow knew those that had taken him fairly well and had somehow talked despite the fact that she never left, nor took over, his body.  
When the other member that had assisted in his captivity came back, she had come with someone else as well. This person had hair following the same trend of being yellow as the other two, though hers was more of a crayon shade rather than gold, as well as having eyes that matched with the yellow mess on her head. Nightingale had looked to be in better condition than Edward, however, the reverse comparison could be seen here as the newcomer's cloths, while old and worn down from time and use, were clean. Her shirt see,ed to have once been a light blue but had long since turned gray, her hair, while obviously clean, seemed to be dry and scratchy. Her eyes were crossed but the most easily viewable part of her was the skin underneath them. It seemed to be rubbed raw and pink, the area beneath them showing similar signs, as if it had been agitated repeatedly and far too often.

"She's not here" The girl snapped to Nightingale with a slight snarl, her pupils appearing to be constricted into slits and glowed dimly but held no threat due to the fact that neither of them were correctly aligned with the one her glare was directed towards.

"Yes she is" Nightingale replied in the same tone, it was made apparent that those gathered had difficulty functioning together due to the last time they had all been together, whatever they had done at that time was still a mystery to Naruto, however, so his ability to understand the situation was lacking. Edward made a slight growl and joined in on the argument that had begun to unfold.

"SHUT UP!" Naruto yelled suddenly, standing up from his previous position of sitting on the cot. "Listen, I don't really know who the hell any of you are, and I'm only still hear because you all seem to know Kuru-chan, but if this is all you guys are going to do then I saw fuck no!" He continued, his loud rant causing the still unconscious Zabuza to reawaken.  
The man struggled against his gag and binds, his blindfolded eyes clearly open as if were attempting to see through the cloth.

"Oh yeah, what are we supposed to do about him?" Nighty asked, a crazed grin splitting Edward's face again as he watched to tied man

"I can eat him, I haven't done it in quite some time~" Edward coed, a definite rumble, almost a purr ,iced with a growl, sounded from the back of his throat.

"I'm fine with that" Ditsy replied, though she licked her lips slightly "Though, I'm a bit peckish." She mumbled. Nightingale shook her head, though a smile was clearly evident.

"I ate a while ago, found a corpse in a train while looking for you two." She explained before turning her head over to Naruto, who had a curios yet horrified look  
"Hungry?" She asked

"Not for that" Naruto replied, gesturing towards Zabuza and the two grinning beings.

"Oh come on!" Edward replied joyously, grabbing a knife from Naruto's bag before tossing it aside as it was dull. Nightingale handed him a knife that almost looked like a medical scalpel, only with a longer blade. Edward grinned at her, though-due to the bandages and his razors if teeth-it looked to be manic and riddled with insanity, and quickly sliced off a chunk of the shoulder.

~Naruto's POV~

Everything seemed to freeze as he held his arm in an outstretched position, that piece of meat being offered to me and the delicious scent of the metallic blood making my tongue tingle but the nausea of what they were doing overpowering the oddly delicious scent, I shook my head no quickly, almost violently.  
Red, so red, I couldn't help but stare at the substance that seemed to ooze from the open wound on Zabuza's arm.

"Seriously, I don't think mom's here" the blonde restated, swiping the chunk of flesh from her brother's hand and quickly pushing the morsel into her mouth, chewing vigorously,

"This boy is her jinchuriki and a Kitsubasa" Nightingale explained, gesturing to him. Edward, who was leaning on the back of Zabuza's chair, stared at Naruto with curios eyes

"A Kitsubasa? He's really one of us?" The blonde, Ditsy, asked in disbelief

"Yep, saw it myself." Nighty replied "Or rather, my 'pets' did." She continued, gently rubbing what appeared to be a tattoo on both of her arms.

"I don't buy it, there's no way this guy is like us if he can't even stomachs a bit of carnage." She snapped again

"He hasn't grown to crave it yet" Edward replied in a silky voice, undoing the knot of the blindfold and pocketing the cloth.

"What happened to him?" Ditsy asked, gesturing to their other sibling

"I don't really know, but he should heal soon enough." Nightingale whispered, Edward's head snapped over to the two, his tongue moving as if it belonged to a snake, and hissed anomalistically. Naruto blinked, recognizing the motion as one he often did himself.

"You two reeeeeaaally need to learn how to whisper better." The goldette male whispered, blowing some of his bangs from his face

"I don't think you should kill him" Naruto said in a slight mumble, his brow furrowed in thought.

"Why not? He is merely an obstacle in your mission, after all, why should you care if he died or not?" Nightingale asked, knowing that Zabuza was a danger to Naruto's client.

"Well yeah but..." Naruto was at a loss for words

"Listen, whether you like it or not, he's a mortal. Mortals die, I'm just making his death worth something." Edward explained, gently patting Zabuza's head in mock kindness.  
"No, if you'll excuse me" Edward stood on wobbly legs, putting a single hand on the side of the chair to help himself up. "I have some fun to prepare for."


	21. Chapter 21

/A:N/ Warning for gore and violence, I drew the image above (LOOK AT IT!)

Naruto sighed as he finally made his way back to the house, having had been let go about half an hour previous and was still unsure of where he was.  
He must have taken a wrong turn or two before this, the entire area looking unfamiliar and a large building being seen in the distance but, it was late, and this was the only area with light he could see in any and all directions. Naruto groaned as the moist air proved icy cold in temperature and he sped his walk.  
Once he was there, he looked around, seeing multiple bandits in the area. The silence he was hearing made him paranoid beyond belief, why was it so quiet?! Where were his friends? None of them were there, none! They were all gone. Kuruma was still there, but she was just so silent, as if she were only partially there. He felt so empty now, he'd do nearly anything to quiet the unbearably loud roar of silence.

"Hey kid! What are you doing here!?" One of the guards yelled, having had noticed Naruto's presence. A few others finally saw him, he had actually gotten through much of the large group's defenses and was currently fairly near the apparent base of the group.  
"Hey!" The first man continued to walk closer, Naruto never once looked up, he let his face be shroud in shadows as he stared downwards and at the ground, his eyes seeming to glow in the shadows. The man grabbed the front of his shirt and began to lift him from the ground slightly, pulling a fist back, a few others having their own weapons a the ready.

"Self defense doesn't count as murder, does it?" Naruto asked in a quiet voice, still not looking up.

"Huh?" The man never had a chance to give a true reply, for Naruto suddenly snapped his head upwards, kicking the ground and flapping wings that they had yet to notice, to push his velocity upwards and thrust him higher in the air. His eyes, which now glowed with an intense light, leaving a trail from the sheer speed of his movement, as he used his jaw and sharpened, lengthened, teeth to rip at the skin of the other man. He had attempted to tear the wind pipe, but had missed as he did not normally use his wings in a fight.  
The man jumped back, one of the nearer men swinging a bat laced with spikes in an attempt of hitting the intruder. Instead, the weapon hit the other man in the face, lodging itself in his face and proving to cause irreversible damage. The man screamed so horribly, his voice being filled with little more than an unintelligent, automatic, cry of pain. The second man froze in shock and horror, Naruto, however, was unfazed. He sprung from his position and seemed to zip through the air, kicking him flat in the jaw and sending him off with a sickening crack as his jaw broke and his neck breaking from its original position, being attached to the body by mere skin and durable tissue.  
Naruto used his wings to push him off of the ground with a greater force then his legs could allow alone. He tackled the next person, the fight becoming blurry as more and more people, most of muscular build, fell victim to Naruto's unkept rage and growing lack of sanity.  
Another duck, this time he spun on the ground in a position not unlike a handstand, and threw himself off from the dirt and into the air. A moment's pause as he flew through the air, his body turning and shifting as he allowed gravity to take its toll. How high up was he? His eyes should be open, yet he found them closed. He expected his breathing to be sporadic and his nerves fried, but at this moment, at this second, at this exact instant, he felt peace. He seemed to sense the ground coming and landed softly, shouting forwards, his eyes glowing again and leaving their trail of blued/yellowed light, and ended up finding himself on the other side of some man, his features appearing void of anything to help differentiate himself from the many others that now decorated the forest floor.  
The man's blood stained Naruto's hands and claws, viscera coating his being from the many people he had dealt with in the previous haze of unexplained insanity. Naruto glanced over to his hand, licking lightly at his hand for the delicious flopped that covered him nearly completely.

"This place" Naruto mumbled to himself and anyone listening. He tilted his head upwards, as if it were raining and he were allowing the substance to bathe his face and clean his being. Naruto let out a single shaky breath, his body lowering itself so that he were sitting on his knees. The unfelt adrenaline that had cursed through his veins seemed to sap away instantly, leaving him exhausted and drowsy. He sat, letting his energy return, before standing again. He placed a hand on the wall beside him and tried to find his balance losses balance.  
"I think it might be Gato's."

~Time Skip~

Naruto held the man by the top of his head, dragging him by his hair through the dark woods. Already he could see scavengers and hunters alike, all feasting on the carnage he had laid out as if it were a feast and he a masterful chief.

"Stop! Stop! Listen, whatever I did to you, I can make it up! I have mummy, I can pay you for anything! Please!" The man cried, still in his well suited pajamas, which were of a vibrant violet color with gold linings and were made of a silky fabric. Naruto ripped his hand upwards, yanking the man up and right in front of him.

"You think you can buy yourself out of this? After all you've done to the people here?! No, I think not, you will _pay_ for your actions and suffer in purgatory." Naruto found himself hissing. Thinking back to all that he had seen of the town in the little time he had been here, and of all the sorrow that this being had caused to his younger friend.  
"Purple and gold" Naruto hissed suddenly, gripping tighter on the already painfully held locks of hair. "Those are the colors of KINGS!" He yelled, throwing the man against a tree as he had already made his way so that he was now close enough to the building he had been making his way to.  
"Do you see yourself as a king? Do you!?" He yelled "How DARE you rule over an unwilling people, stealing their wealth for your own pleasures! Killing any who stand up to you? REALLY?!" Growling could be heard as Naruto gained the attention of the others. A slight clapping noise resounded, the vines that had been wrapped around the bark suddenly beat to move, acting as if they were snakes, growing larger and thicker as they wound around the man's arms, holding him in place. Naruto snapped his head towards the other beings, a low rumble sounding from his throat, but not a growl. The sound was returned by the others and his body began to change, glowing before reforming into his animalistic self. Nightingale hissed, her mouth open wide and her tongue lifting into the air slightly, swishing up and down.  
Ditsy's stomach let out a growl and she eyed the other hungrily, having had just watched her brother, not only eat, but torture the previous person made her apatite make itself evident and her stomach seem to empty of its contents to make room for the new. She opened her mouth wide, her grayish fur being clean of any blemish or blood, and her tail began ti whip to and fro excitedly. A high pitched rumble echoed through her throat, as well as a few yips that seemed to merge with the noise, the others joining suit. Nightingale strode forwards, somehow strutting despite her current form and for no apparent reason.  
Her jaw snapped open and tore through the chest cavity's outer skin, beginning to tear and remove the rest of the flesh protecting the organs for the others to more easily view. She spat out the skin as it seemed to hold an odd flavor, a disgusting taste now sticking to her tongue. She let her to give loll from her mouth, purple foam oozing from her open maw.  
The man laughed through his pain, a manic, crazed laugh. Nightingale began to spit out anything in her mouth, the taste disgusting and the foam beginning to seise in its coming.

" **How** _ **DARE**_ **you!** " Edward hissed, Nightingale wiped her mouth clean of the ooze. Edward plunged his mouth into the squishy tissue and ripped out the first thing his jaws found, easily moving past the unique seal that was laced with a mild poison for beings like him, it only worked for the outer layer of skin.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The short man cried, desperation clearly evident in his voice.

" **Too damn late** " Edward seemed to hiss out, though his jaws only seemed to open to allow the organ to drop and give out a literal hiss. Just then, Naruto gave off a loud yip, almost a rawr or bark, and jumped out from the shadows. He grabbed the man's throat and was about to jerk his head, snapping his neck, before being stopped by another.

" **Wait!** " Kurama called out, her body being composed mostly of energy, bone, and muscle. She had been working on creating a new body, at least one small enough for her to exist outside of her kit.

" **Mama**!?" Ditsy asked in surprise and excitement, recognizing the voice easily.

" **Hello kit** " she greeted, nuzzling her with the skull she had been working to create, the muscle fibers sticking to it and veins being disturbed, some opening. Ditsy giggled despite this fact, her tail shooting upwards.

" **Why do you stop me?** " Naruto asked, his soft brow furrowing in confusion.

" **Because I have a better idea** " she replied, her thought seeming to leak out into the others.

" **I'll get the wood~"** Edward sang, practically hoping away.

" **Where are you getting the flesh from to make that, anyways?** " Nightingale asked, though Naruto looked on with sad eyes, his ears dropping.

" **From Naru-kun's earlier playtime, he left me plenty of materials, I'm not done yet though.** " their mother responded, turning to give Naruto a proud smile, but it fell instantly when she saw his expression.  
" **Sweety?** " She asked, unsure and worried

" **You don't like my mind space?** " Naruto asked sadly, looking down at the thought and lowering his head. Kurama's partially made ears swung back, her head doing similar, and she shook her skull of a face to and fro.

" **Not at all!** " She cried, moving over and doing her best to comfort her kit  
 **"Your mind space is lovely, it's just that I need some true flesh and blood of my own, I can't use yours for forever!** " She tried to reason. Naruto didn't reply, merely continued to rest in his newfound pity party. This would explain her absence from within him, though he could still feel a large chunk of energy in him, but her mind had left him entirely. Naruto merely hummed in response, not looking up. Kurama sighed, lowering her head, knowing Naruto wouldn't forgive her for a little while for whatever he felt she had done. She glanced back over, seeing Edward to be returning with a large chunk of wood beneath his more well wing.

" **There's more organic material over there if you want to speed your healing, though you might need an alive sample**..." Kurama said before moving into a more hushed form of speech, almost a mumble.

" **Why, I'd love to! Might find some survivors, too, but first-" he finished his trot and dumped the junk he had collected, revealing a few other materials present as well. "I want to try my hand, or well, paw, in your idea!** " He exclaimed cheerfully, setting his materials up and spreading them out so that he could see them better. Sitting on his haunches, he touched his front paws together before setting them both on the ground so that he was resting in a usual sitting position for a creature that moved on all fours. The objects seemed to twitch and jerk with blue electricity before glowing, merging and moving quickly into a near seamless mechanism composed mostly of wood.

The base was easily wood and seemed to morph into the ground almost, quickly loosing this connection and becoming a separate thing of its own. It went up high enough to reach around the abdomen of the chosen individual, what looked like an odd spinner being hooked onto the base by a little bit of metal, the tip easily being sharp and composed of metal. Instead of being powered by electricity, this was designed so that the part of the mechanism made to spin would move in a circular motion on Ed's command via alchemical manipulation. Ditsy trotted forwards, pushing the wood closer to their captive, so that the cold metal tip was lightly touching Gato's stomach.  
With a nod, Edward activated his creation, and the man's internal organs began to be turned into slush.

~Line Break, Small Time Skip~

The sounds of slurping, lapping, and other sounds of consumption, could be heard in the immediate area of the still dark forest. Through the dim lighting, it could be vaguely seen that four individual beings, all stained in scarlet, has their snouts pressed into the open abdomen of a man whose face was just outside of the slight lighting. Once they were done, Nightingale opened her wing and pulled it into an awkward angle before swinging, her entire stance changing as she did, and the sound of something thick and fleshy being sliced resounded to all of those nearby. Gato's head fell to the forest floor with a dull thud, Nightingale turned to Naruto expectantly and gave him a large grin

" **Welcome to our family** "

-The Next Day

Naruto walked confidently alongside Inari, Sakura, and Sasuke, his ever present grin never seeming to leave his face. Sakura was saying something, and quite loudly at that, about something concerning Naruto staying out the night before. There was a commotion in town, this much was clear, and Inari was suddenly called over by someone he knew from the village.  
Yells, both of horror and excitement, could easily be heard from where the group was in their original stance. There, jabbed onto a wooden stick, was the head of the one that had caused the entirety of the civilians' collected misery, his eyes wide and rolled so far upwards that the veins in them were clearly standing out in the white, his irises just barely seen at the top but easily clouded over in slight deterioration and unspoken agony. A single thing was written in slightly damp blood, mostly brown in color:

The Predators Have Returned


	22. Chapter 22

~Unknown Time, Unknown Place~

A single light lit the otherwise dark space, the light dancing and shifting as the source, being a candle, moved as if to an unheard tune. The shadow of the individuals in the space seemed to stand out more so than the other chunks of varying darkness a crossed the four cheaply built wooden walls. A sound of exhalation emanated from whomever made one of the much large pools of darkness, their eyes closing as they rubbed their temples, only to find no relief and the filth of dried perspiration, dirt, and blood.

"What do we do now?" a voice, not belonging to the initially described individual, asked in their native tongue and a shaken voice. He hugged his knees tighter against his soiled and dirtied shirt, which almost resembled a kimono but had long since lost its form.  
The flame danced, the blotches of darkness occupying the walls mimicking with an awkward grace with matching speed.

"mama gone" a smaller voice muttered, tears no longer cascading down her cheeks but the reddened marks of their trailing still remained, the area surrounding her eyes being pink from the irritation of her previously nonstop crying.

"I know" a third voice, this time from the initially described individual, muttered.

"mama coming back?" the second voice asked the other two present. Their box seemed to jump suddenly, the only boy snapping his arms out to catch the candle before the light could be snuffed out, his hands quickly became coated in a liquid wax and the small flame touched his skin for a mere moment before he could stop it. He hissed in pain, closing his golden eyes and wincing as he turned the candle over and setting the still lit object onto the wooden ground. The other two were silent as this happened, neither bothering, or daring, to move.

"I wanna go home..." the same voice muttered after a few more minutes.

"You know as well as I that we can't do that, our home is _gone_ , Ditsy." the third voice snapped, prompting nothing but muffled whimpers from the smaller sibling.

"Why would anyone want to take mama away?" Ditsy asked, the boy hugged himself again as he settled back in.

"I don't know..." the third voice responded slowly. Their mother had set a contract of peace with the group that had done this, they had a treaty! Why had they done this if that were the case?  
The box car jumped again, much smaller this time, and the crate moved in tern. The candle tipped over this time, no one seeming to care to stop it, only to be resent by the male child once again.

"Where are we going?" Ditsy asked

"I don't know"

"What do you know?" Ditsy asked, being met by silence.  
"Well?" she asked, Nightingale lifted her head from its previously bowed position, a firm, nearly glaring, look in her eyes.

"I only know one ting for certain: if we are found, we will be killed." the train whistled and the box car jumped again, the small candle tipped over and lost the small flicker of its flame. Darkness engulfed the three siblings, and the dancing, which seemed to almost resemble that of one of the parties commonly held in their hive of a home, turned to an unmoving vat of inky black stillness.

~With Naruto~

The small group, consisting of the team of ninja plus their employer, stood at the entrance of the now finished bridge, a much larger group of people behind them and cheering at the job well done. The town was no where near flourishing, that would take time, but their hope in a better tomorrow had been rekindled and thus their enthusiasm.  
To congratulate their anonymous heroes, the bridge had been dubbed, "The Great Predator Bridge", though the name seemed a tad odd it was the only thing the group could agree on. Tazuna had pressed for,"The Tazuna Bridge" or something of the sort but had been overruled by the townspeople as the bridge was made and payed for by the people, Tazuna, while the main worker, was only a volunteer worker.

Naruto glanced up at the newly made sign and grinned at it, Sakura scoffed, her cheeks slightly green from the reminder of the gruesome display she had seen, Sasuke tisked at it in annoyance as he had hoped to show off his own ability and test himself by trying his luck at the midget of a man, and Kakashi appeared indifferent, his eyes trained to his book.  
Their work being done, they began to leave, only to be stopped by a nearly hysteric masked individual with black hair and some form of loose kimono that stopped just under his knees.  
He glared behind his mask with wide eyes, his enraged madness being suppressed only by his desire to maim whomever had murdered his late master. Jumbled words spit from his mouth as he yelled at them, demands and questions and threats all mixing into nothing but incoherent words disguised as sound. He suddenly sprinted off to them, as if on impulse, and threw his senbon needles after any he could hit. If he had been thinking clearly, if he had aimed for a specific spot, they would be dead. However, rage blinded his eyes as he attacked as if he a child and this a tantrum. His normally refined and skilled hand loosing any meaning as he was decidedly not planning, merely trying to harm in any way possible.  
There was a different to rage and wraith, rage is uncontrolled anger, attacking with only the set goal of getting back at whomever had wronged you and is unrefined, wraith is a sharpened weapon aimed at the throat at your wrongdoer, a weapon prepared and aimed to kill with its eyes sharp and mind clear. What Naruto saw now was little more than what he viewed of those in the same village as him, unrefined anger with only plans to harm rather than a specific goal.

Haku threw his blades at Sakura, many zooming far past and away from said target and only a few skimming her by, Kakashi grabbed her and tossed her out of the way as he had no believe in her capabilities. Naruto leapt forward, kunai in hand, but was slammed into by Sasuke as the other had skid sideways to move from the loosely aimed needles. Naruto was knocked from his feet by this collision and splashed into the water, only to push himself back up from the pool with a blast of his chakra. A small explosion emanated from his feet as the water went to either side, his body rocketing upwards and staying afloat for mere moments in the air as his momentum slowed and gravity began to take its toll, not five seconds later and he was falling.  
Aiming three kunai, he launched the blades. One lodged into Haku's shoulder, another beside him, and a third pinning his trail-the loosely tied thing around his waist-to the wood in the ground. He had seen Sasuke, with multiple senbon lodged in his chest and side, fighting the enraged individual. Haku had much potential, his kenkei genkei being well trained and well used, but he lacked the mind set to even comprehend it as a possible weapon.  
Naruto spoke few words to the angered other, all of which falling onto death ears. He tried to reason with his past acquaintance but was ignored as a person and viewed only as a target.  
Haku yelled something again, but the wind that had seemed to stir from his momentum silenced as air sped past Naruto's ears. Ice seemed to form on the dampened wood wherever it touched water, causing Sasuke to slip as he dodged another attack and accidentally stepped on some of the water Naruto had splashed minutes ago. He cried out, falling, and nearly fell into the water as Naruto had before him.  
Naruto sped over, crying out to make the raven aware of his presence, and distracted Haku for a few brief moments. He threw a couple shuriken, forcing Haku to dodge the attack, but was then forced to dodge a flame as it sped past him and at their enemy.

"Watch it!" Naruto yelled, for if he were just a few inches closer he would be scorched. Sasuke's eyes flashed to him for a moment before turning back to their enemy, not seeming to care of what he had almost done. Kakashi seemed to attack Haku in the background, having had been ordering Sakura to keep the townspeople at bay, only to find his feet frozen to the ground, the cold seeping into his feet and the areas around it, cooling his blood and would soon cause frost bite if not felt with.  
Haku snapped back to the two teammates and began to throw his weapons in an attempt to of harming or incapacitating his opponents. Naruto jerked as his arm was grabbed, and had no time to react as he was yanked quickly in front of the raven Uchiha. He cried out in shock and then pain as those small needles penetrated his skin and went into his muscles, some poking at his organs and few trailing his neck. A single senbon stuck in his cheek, but Naruto had no time to pull it out as he found himself thrown aside as if he were rubbish or a dull, broken knife.  
The fight got blurry from there, eventually Kakashi released himself from the hard ice that had invaded his feet and the majority of his legs and had used his Chidori to silence their opponent. Once the boy's heart had stopped its final beats, his corpse was tossed into the water and let to be eaten by the fish that lived there.  
The group began to leave, not bothering to check for their fallen comrade. By the time Naruto came to, he found his lunges filled with water and himself at a shore on the other side of the water. He coughed, undesired of how he was alive, and tried to remove the liquid from his longs.  
A sudden gag, and the water flew out, as well as a slightly purple substance, as he barfed the liquids up as well as his last meal. It took a while to pull out each individual needle, but he managed. He began to walk, soon finding a small campsite occupied by his supposed teammates, Sakura was on watch.  
The pinkette almost screamed when she saw him, drenched and alive as if a ghost, but was quickly silenced by Naruto's hand, which was slammed into her face and mouth.

"Shut up, go get me something to eat" Naruto growled lovely, his eyes holding a definite anger as he glared at his teammate. She mouthed something to him but was silenced by his hand, but he knew syllables and could guess what she had said. He let go and backed up, his eyes demanding her to do as he had told, yet she stood frozen.

"H-how are you alive?" She asked timidly, backing up. "You di-ied in battle." She mumbled, Naruto scoffed

"You shoulda checked." Naruto replied curtly. She stood still, guilt obvious, before closing her eyes suddenly, grimacing, and going away to retrieve the leftovers of their meal.  
Naruto looked upwards, a shaky breath escaping him, as he stared upwards at the night sky.


	23. Chapter 23

No one dared to speak on the trip back, and even if they did, there was nothing to say. Naruto had decided to not be as forgiving to his group after the trip, and had made the decision that grudges are fine to have. He was becoming cold to his team, colder and colder as their progress in returning continued. He wouldn't speak with them, he scowled at the thought, which made their trip ever quieter in sound but roar ever so loud in psychological volumes.  
When they finally go back, Kakashi gave a report that had been altered slightly from reality, not mentioning anything that would pose him as a flawed teacher or Sasuke as someone who had done acts of cruel or vile nature. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were silent throughout it all.  
Iruka, who was stuck at the missions desk until the academy started again next spring, congratulated the three on their job well done, only growing worried when he received a distinct lack of enthusiasm in Naruto's posture. He gave a worn down grin to Iruka and said nothing.  
He said nothing to the three small children awaiting the academy, responded to the glares and stares with his silence, and didn't respond to the team of ninja, genin like him, that made a small, harmless joke at his response.  
Kiba frowned at the lack of response but grinned at the challenge and plunged back in, wrapping a friendly arm around Naruto's shoulder and trying to prod him to speak via joking insults of his dream and a promise of ramen. Naruto ducked from the grasp and walked away, being as loud as the beings normally inside of him were present.  
His apartment was destroyed, much more so than it had been before. The door had been completely broken from it's destroyed hinges and smashed, a large hole in the middle of the hallow wood, and any and all of his belongings were either gone, smashed, burnt, or dosed in either red paint or a rustic brown substance. His cupboards were broken just as the door, his pluming totaled as the what little he had to eat had been shoved into the drain.  
Walking to the door, he lifted the ruined wood and tried to get it into the gaping hole where it was meant to stand, only for it to fall back down.  
The sound of the door falling to the ground cashed the boy to jump back, the daze that had clouded his eyes dashing back away to his subconscious, every hair standing on end before realization hit him that nothing ha yet to happen, a false safety attempting to whisk his worries away, being just as successful as Naruto in his attempts to keep the door standing.  
Staggering backwards and placing his hands over his face, he breathed out a sob as the hurt and fear from his betrayal overwhelmed him. Sasuke betrayed him...they left him for dead, what had he done to them to cause this response?! Warm and wet, the salty liquid slid down his sun kissed cheeks in rapid succession. After about half an hour of this, his breathing returned to him and he let his head fall forwards, his expression appearing as if he were in pain.  
Forcing a few deep and slow breaths through his lunges, he walked over to his excuse of a bed and tried to fall asleep, ignoring the needs of his stomach as his appetite dissipated despite his gut's demands.

-Elsewhere

"Well that was weird." Kiba stated after Naruto sped away.

"What was?" Choji asked as he and Shikamaru walked on the scene, having been about to go for a late lunch and early diner.

"Naruto" Kiba responded instantly, the small canine on his head barking in agreement.

"He was acting strange when we saw him, ignoring Kiba when he tried to converse with him and walking away in the direction of down town. He looked paler than usual, and his body language was off as well." Shino explained for the newcomers.

"Downtown?!" Hinata squeaked  
"Why would he be going down there?" She added quickly, her eyes darting into wat she felt was the direction of the distasteful destination.

"He has an apartment down there, I think." Shikamaru responded, Choji giving an affirmative nod to this.  
"The three of us used to hang out when we were younger, and whenever he would leave he would go in that direction, though I've only ever been there a few times." He continued.

"I don't think our parents liked the idea of us going down there." Choji added

-Unknown Place, Unknown Time

The halls were dark and unpleasant, a thick musk coating the facility's air and making it difficult to breath. Creatures howled and hissed from their cages, an even darker atmosphere surrounding the space behind their bars. The only thing that could be seen if them, other than the occasional silhouette, where the glowing eyes of the many creatures.

"Are the preparations ready?" An aged and withered voice asked in a hushed tone. One of his accomplices took a whiff from his pipe, his white robes almost seeable through the darkness of the small holding cells.

"Yes, everything is in order." Another voice hissed, he checked another vial on the wall and wrote something down.

"Are the anbu ready to retrieve the boy?" Danzo asked, his hushed tone remaining.

"Already at his apartment, awaiting your command, sir." A man in uniform told Danzo, bowing at the waist before straightening back up.

"My command is given, retrieve the boy." The man bowed again before dashing away in a blur.

-Elsewhere, Present Time

The group of preteens walked over to where Naruto's home was to be.

"Be prepared, it might be a bit small." Skiamaru warned

"Why doesn't he just buy a better one?" Ino asked  
"Don't look at me like that, orphans get a monthly check!" She defended, he face heating up slightly as she realized how insensitive she sounded. When the looks persisted, she continued to explain.  
"Sakura's family works in the orphanage business, we would help out with the kids when we were younger but a greet deal of them end up living elsewhere since there aren't enough places for them all to go after the Kyuubi attack, those that decide to live elsewhere get checks to buy the necessaries." She explained, she had really liked working with the younger kids and felt she had a knack for it, it was so sad when most would leave unannounced, especially when they were so young, the youngest she had met was a mere four year old, she had never seen the child again after her disappearance. Now that she thought of it, why hadn't the child brought her things with her when she left? Everything had remained where the girl had left it in the shared room, not to mention the girl was one of the few with an actual bed rather than a mat.

The rest of the group continued to converse while Ino pondered upon the subject, but her thoughts stopped the moment she heard the shrill shriek of Hinata. Snapping her head towards the sound, she saw that they were now at the doorstep to what must have been the blonde's apartment, the door was chipped and broken, resting at her feet.  
Hinata pointed to a red mess that she had spotted by the dim lighting, there was a pool of a thick red fluid.

"Calm down!" Kiba tried, instantly understanding that it was not actually blood but red paint. Walking inside, he saw that a large can of red paint had been spilt, still being wet, but not all of it had gone to waste. The walls were coated in graffiti, some of it brand new, but the blonde was no where to be seen.  
On the wall, in fresh paint, was the dripping image of a beheaded and dissected fox with nine tails, black spilling from the wound.


	24. Chapter 24

/A:N/ Hey guess, Winged-Kitsune here (depending on what media this is posted on) and it has come to my attention that I haven't been the most descriptive on the character's appearance, specifically Naruto's. This is more directed to rather than my Wattpad viewers, as I have submitted images of my old work concerning Naruto's appearance (need to update them) so here is the description based on the questions asked:  
Naruto is slender and slightly short for his age-he was held back from his classes, remember? He's older than the others realize but only by a few years-and has blond hair that blends into a very slight orangish color. His ears, which he has referred to as kitsune in appearance, are slightly feline and more to the side of his head than the top, they are the same base color as his hair and transcend into a more prominent orange around the top tip. His wings are the same base color as his hair with a slight difference in the fact that his first primaries are a solid orange/yellow while the rest of them smooth into the same shade as his hair and ears do, the same is for his five fluffy and slightly short tails. His wings are in fact feathered opposed to leathery.  
An unmentioned divergence from normal feathered wings is the fact that, because he is a Kitsubasa, he can shift. He can extend and retracted his feathers to suit different needs-such as long distance, higher swiftness, dynamic soaring, gliding, and etc.-but he doesn't know how to do this because he doesn't know how.  
He looks nearly identical in the second book but with a couple keen differences. In this book, due to my original design of his character, had orange and red tips, and to clear away any present confusion, just in case I had said he had red in his colors, he does not. Another difference is that, while in the first book his eyes are an intricate mix of vibrant blues, violets, indigos, and aqua marine-shifts from shades but purple is at the top, greener shades the bottom and the middle a mix with dark blue pools where his pupils should be to hide the fact that his change back and forth. The reason for this is that these colors are those of the energies of the creatures laying dormant within him, causing his current energy to be shades similar to his irises. In the second book, however, his eyes fade into a yellow (fire yellow shade of yellow).

Edward, in this story thus far, is mostly covered in cloth bandages due to the betrayal of the people he had companies in the realm he had lived in after the fall of the original Burrow and before Nightingale goes to bring him back. Due to the fact that his last clothes were mostly charred to ash in the betrayal, he now wears mostly the late Zabuza's attire until he can go clothes shopping, as Zabuza had been much larger than himself and thus the clothes don't fit him. The bandages allow only one of his eyes to be seen, the other side of his face being covered in healing and dissipating scar tissue-will have healed entirely and look as he had before betrayal before second book(before before -_-)-his mouth is also shown through the bandages and he can converse, eat, etc. through it easily and without much discomfort. His hair is growing back quickly where it had been burnt away but is not entirely gone, his bangs on the side of his face with his revealed eye still intact and a few locks of honey gold sticking out though the present bandages.  
Ed's ears, tails (three), and wings are a lighter hue than his hair and eyes-daffodil yellow-all of which fade into a slightly saturated candy apple red.

Ditsy-having had lived in poverty whilst away due to her inability to sustain herself when few would hire her due to her physical and verbal disabilities-wears a large beige jacket made of a thick, scratchy material. She is smart but, similarly to Naruto, naive and poorly educated due to being born in a span of time too short to be taught much of anything before the destruction of the original Burrow, leaving her education to be similarly to that of a child.  
Due to her poverty and the world she had been living in, she had a diet of poor nutrition, as the kind she had lived with were generally herbivores, thus her fur, hair, skin, and feathers are all dim and highest saturated, but in the second book-where she is much more healthy-she has bumblebee/daffodil mix eyes and a vibrant daffodil head of hair. Her ear tuffs (Naruto doesn't have ear tuffs but Ed does) are dyed an undecided shade of blue, though they are originally a yellow that matches her eyes-she has congenital strabismus, forgot to mention it-and her coat (not entirely done designing her shades and pattern(s)) is somewhere around pms 535 (see above, if image doesn't show then it's basically a shade of semi vibrant grey/blue). She has slight blue highlights on her tail nub (something that all Kitsubasas have, is over the other tails' base (she has two semi puffy tails), tail nubs look to be similar to a deer's average tail. The tips of her tails are undecided, may be yellow or may end up being blue, might have it originally yellow and end up being dyed blue, tails are a grey akin to her coat that fades to yellow in an area still near the base.

Nightingale fire yellow eyes and daffodil coat, one tail, and has arguably the simplest color scheme of the group, especially when compared to Nico (third book character, I jumped ahead, it already has more chapters than this one) but has died the tips of her hair and tail different shades of blue and indigo at different times while her ear tuffs and the inside of her tail nub are a light banana yellow. 

The days past, the group deducing that Naruto had simply moved out and that this apartment was not his current place of residence, but they did tell their instructors of the events and of their suspicions. Nothing happened as a result. They also didn't see Naruto for the days following, days which soon turned to weeks and weeks to months. No one looked for him.  
The group were told that the boy was simply gone for a time and that he would return when he was finished, though what he was doing remained in the shadows as well as why they couldn't know. The weeks soon turned to months, nothing was found.

~Unknown Place, Unknown Time~

Darkness coated the room, the echoes of cages creatures touching each walk and haunting all who heard them. There was the ever present sound of a dripping as well as multiple machines that would often be seen in a hospital, but not one of this world.  
Such technology had yet to be crafted in this dimension, yet it proved useful in monitoring their test subjects without being in the room, as their numbers were rather limited. On one side of the wall was what appeared to be a large mirror, a reflective surface coating the wall. It was a one way window, the other side allowing for anyone watching to peer through with ease and without detection.  
In the middle of the room was a large pole, a chain attached yet with nothing else to connect it. It hung limply, awaiting for the next time it would be used, it sat in the shadows as well. There was a bed, though it was truly just a mere mattress, on a side of one of the walls, the thin sheet still warm from its last users' departure, it lay in the shadows.  
The sound of three pairs of footsteps cut through the darkness and unspoken unease, through the shadows and the ever present calls of the creatures on the other side of the cage bars.  
The sounds of hisses and howls grew louder as the group passed, but they hushed quickly as the familiar sound of a click, the sound of a button being pressed, sliced through the noise. The screeches of the creatures was heard, silence ensuing.  
Another click and the turn of a large handle, the door flung open, silence reigning.

~Present Day, Unknown Place~

The ever present sound of the caged animals greeted Naruto upon waking in this place, having been taken only days prior. The ever familiar room had greeted hi as well, though the iron collar now around his throat was new. Inside of the metal were slips of paper, each of which holding various seals that prevented his retaliation and escape from this hellish place. There was a second collar overtop the first, this one of a leathery substance that was joint to a chain, the chain being connected to a pole.  
The double collar wasn't decidedly fashionable, but neither was the light blue hospital gown adorning Naruto's body. His body ached as he slowly lifted his bandaged form, clipped wings unable to shift into a comfortable position as they were tied tightly to his back, his almost metallic primaries being wrapped in a cut proof material.  
The color of his hair was easily saturated and dimmed to an almost grey shade, his complexion also reflecting the murky tones.  
His eyes, which normally shone with a varying vibrancy of equally varying shades of blue, were now a murky brown/blue, the pupils seeming faded and blurred with the rest of the irises, which had taken on a darker color due to the lack of light emitting from the pupils. He slowly dragged his legs to his chest, chains rattling sharply at the movement, the boy setting his head on the soft flesh that oddly hadn't lost it's muscle mass, merely the shades of which it used to be.  
He was fed near daily but the food varied, he lifted a hand to his whiskered cheek and felt the skin, being amazed once again when he felt no difference in the shape of his cheeks, as if he hadn't been fed imported and processed food that held limited nutrients for him and made him wish to vomit the contents of his stomach.  
The food itself appeared to be fine, though not tasting the best, and he had heard the greedy sounds of most other subjects devouring their meal, and his lack of enthusiasm to the food both confused and irritated those that held him.  
Footsteps greeted him through the sounds of the normal holding cells, three pairs of footsteps resounding through the cell.  
Once they reached the door next to the large mirror, a button resounded and the chain began to recede into a hole on the pole, pulling the boy with it. The chain was long enough for him to move closer before it would truly tug him, though he merely moved to the other edge of the bed before letting himself rest back down, laying on his still stomach before resting his face in his arms, his ears splayed back and resting lazily on his head as his face pressed softly into the bed's top blanket.  
Icy coldness gripped his very being, but it was a cold, like the hunger, that was never satisfied by normal means. The door opened with another beep, the sound processing in Naruto's mind but ultimately going ignored. Only two pairs of feet moved closer, one having had stayed at the door while another moved to the center of the room, the last one going completely to Naruto and lowering herself down to eye the unresponsive demon.  
She spoke, but went ignored. Naruto was vaguely aware of the darkness that slipped through and that was processed by his closed eyes turned a slightly lighter hue, the lights having been turned on.

"What's wrong with him?" The one in the center of the room asked, a male and slightly higher pitched than the usual gruff toned ones that would commonly work in these facilities. The pink haired man checked the pole, pushing a key into the slot and opening up a panel in the side of it to check the status of the room, trying to find an abnormality in the monitors. Heart beat was, while slightly raised due to possibly having had noted their presence, similar to that of an unconscious individual, body temperature was 20% lower than what had been averaged for the subject.  
"Do you think he's dyeing?" The young adult asked his aunt

"No, merely slipping into energy deprivation." The woman corrected as she grabbed the boy's shoulders and flipped him over with minor difficulty. He seemed to have losses consciousness again, his eyes closed and body unresponsive, possibly not even processing the fact that he was being moved nor prodded at.  
The woman lifted up his shirt and checked the still present wound from three days previous that ran a crossed his upper and middle abdomen, a large upside down "Y" having been sown shut.  
"Regeneration and healing processes seem to have decreased by 97%" The woman noted, the male writing the information down swiftly and with great practice.

"Suggested means of proceeding?" The boy asked, still scribbling away on the paper and not looking up. The woman hummed for a moment before replying.

"Have the guard retrieve my bag from the main office, I'll take it from there." She told him before prying open on of the bot's eyes and taking out a small flashlight, noting the near lack of reaction from the pupil. These creatures were easily moldings at this faze, but she would not be able to do so now, not having the proper supplies nor authority to go through with the expensive process.  
Being a demon tamer had been the original tradition of the family, and many means had been practiced to do so. So much so that, eventually, means of inter-dimensional transportation were discovered. Now, an naturally born inter dimensional being was rare and difficult to find, but where one was, many could be found.  
She had devoted her life to understanding these creatures through any means necessary, finding near immortality in the process and tearing any ties of her home dimension, quickly joining an incorporation, on of many, devoted to goals similar to her own.  
Her current role was demeaning and pathetic for one of her standing, and she had hated every last moment of this boring experience. Luckily and unluckily, she would be done by tomorrow and would leave by then, though she was displeased at the fact that she wouldn't be able to bring such a good subject with her, oh, how much potential he had.  
A destroyed mind was easy to manipulate if you had the resources, understanding, and experience she did. To destroy the mentality, the morals, and the sanity of any individual took time and careful, precise, precision.  
The torture had been fun, and most of her work had been done for her by the disgraceful people of this land, but-if done correctly-this boy would grow to be the most loyal and lethal weapon the land of the Leaf could possibly receive in a long time.  
The boy returned with the guard, each faculty member not being allowed to travel alone in this place without protection before to cause such rules, and the requested bag was with them.  
Swiping the bag and opening it-punching the numbers to the code in discreetly-she took out a vial filled with a glowing green substance. She cleaned a spot on his chest and carefully prepared the needle.

"In the past I have claimed you not worth mercy," She began calmly, checking the measurements with her green eyes, the other two not interrupting her apparent monologue.  
"This is still true, I hold no regrets for what I have done, nor for what I will do on the near and distant future." She pulled his shirt up again and slipped the needle through his skin and into his chest.  
"I know you can't hear me, and I know that you won't remember this, highest likelihood is that this will all be a blur of unaware thought." She pulled the needle out and placed the cap on with careful precision, preserving any possible DNA the needle might have taken before observing as the fluid now inside of the boy began to spread, the veins glowing green in the area surrounding the punctured flesh before diminishing. It would jumpstart the energy recreation process.  
She stared down at him for a few silent moments, watching as his now slightly open, half lidded eyes began to resume their previous color.  
"I will be honest in the fact that I enjoyed your suffering in the past when trauma was to be implemented into your mind, both conscious and subconscious, I am not ashamed of my deeds." She lifted a hand and closed his eyes manually before standing, putting away the needle to be replaced later on.  
"But, for what is to come, not even I would wish upon you." She finished before walking back out and away.  
As the three walked out, the stereotypically gruff and buff guard being in the back, his eyes shifting suspiciously to the cages and holding cells on their respective sides and places.

"If the symptoms persist, give him one of these a day until he returns to full health and all experimentation is to decrease by a minimum of 41%." She told the guard without looking towards him.  
"Come, we are no longer needed here." The chain had loosened after the door slid shut, the slightly sprawled figure, whom ad begun the ever slow process of returning to his normal hues. She slipped her ID through the scanner, the light above the door flashing to red before beginning to open.  
"Pack your things, we leave in the morning." The boy she had spoken to nodded, following her through the now open door and into the next passageway. Finally, they would return to sterile facilities with actual tests and leaps of science rather than basic and near pointless brutality. She hadn't lied, she would have done it all again if possible or needed, but what was done to every other subject? The unnecessary torment of orphaned children and random street creatures was simply overkill, such a waste of resources.  
"The extraction begins tomorrow."


	25. Chapter 25

The months without Naruto were odd to say the least.  
The lie given to the genin that had joined the initial search held off against their suspicion for the first month before sapping away, only for the wall of contempt to be rebuilt as another similar explanation for the blonde's apparent absence, this one lasting for a total of three months, the last month being spent in silent suspicion.  
To help distract them, many missions had issued to the point that the genin present had enough experience to qualify for the next rank, despite the fact that they were still so new.  
Because of this, and the egos that were quickly breeding within the young ninjas, a tournament was decided to take place. During this time, the Hokage was oddly absent, as was Danzo and a handful of Jonin.  
The tournament had begun with the new genin fighting first, quickly being eliminated by exhaustion or, for the fortunate few who actually practiced regularly and made it through the ranks, they were eliminated by those with more experience.  
The sound ninja, of whom were still starting up their village and in need of the experience and respect of the other villages, took their absence as an opportunity to strike, at first blasting the crowd of olookers with a sound wave to minimize their balance. The sound ninja were limited in numbers but stronger than expected, being heavily underestimated by the chunin and genin that had remained in the area and thus gaining the upper hand, especially when the majority of the genin had already been worn out from battling each other.  
This lasted a decent while until the Jonin came, which took a surprisingly long amount of time. Something that caught he attention of some of the Leaf's inhabitance was the complete lack of their leader during the fight. Word quickly began to spread in the form of murmurs in the streets, people beginning to believe that their homage had played a part in the attack.  
Riots began as their questions remained unanswered, the hokage assigning a number of Danzo's workers to guard him openly.  
At this time, the hokage seemed to grow increasingly anxious and nervous, as if he expected something to happen. In truth, Naruto had been broken out of his confinement by an unknown party before the seals Saratobi's snake-like student had prepared could be administered after the seal that had kept the parasitic creatures in the boy's stomach had been removed and the creatures recaptured, filled with the filtered energy of Naruto and Kurama.  
The hokage wanted to make Naruto wanted, he wanted to make him a hunted enemy of the Leaf, but then he would be forced to explain why and no explanation would cooperate with what was told to the council on his absence and those who had asked. Because of this, and due to the fact that there were no witnesses to the attack, Naruto would be free to walk around and-more importantly-not be apprehended until it would be too late.  
Saratobi remembered the look he had received from Naruto on the day of the unsealing, the look of betrayal and heartbreak. He remembered how that look turned to aggression and fury, hatred and despise, when Saratobi had ranted on how he had set up this plan for years, how he had outsmarted the child, how he had used the child to filter out such refined energy from the nine tailed beast, and how the things inside of Naruto, the things Naruto had learned to love like a family, were genetically designed and altered to be parasites, consuming the filtered power Naruto had carefully crafted and creating an army of power hungry beasts.  
Saratobi had laughed at Naruto for his naivety and how the boy had grown attached to the parasitic creatures. He laughed at how the boy had thought Saratobi as a grandfather or a very close friend. Saratobi had called him an idiot, the foal the people believed him to be and a used up filter designed for his purposes. He had thanked the child, sarcastically, for his survives and told him that-once the day was up-he would be no longer needed.  
As Saratobi had walked out from that room, away from where the bound child sat tied up and in the middle of multiple practiced sealers and armed Jonin waiting and at the ready, he heard the screeching as Naruto cursed the man, telling him that he would get him and that nothing could protect him.  
Saratobi hadn't believed the child to survive that day and had been surprised when he did, deciding to use the remaining shambles of the boy as another tool for which he could use. But when the day had come to place the seals that would bend the remains of his mind, well, that team were no longer anywhere to be found in the realm of the living. Something-no-someone else had interfered and broken the child out, and Saratobi didn't want to stick around to see his day or reckoning.


	26. Chapter 26

/A:N/ Note to self: I want to change the current cover...what should it be? Please remind me to remove this note once the new cover is made.

Edward stood calmly amidst the group of the fallen, his head facing downwards and eyes closed. During the long stretch of time that had passed he had made a near complete recovery, his face now unmarred by burns, blisters, or the bandages. He turned towards the trees and smiled in an almost sane way.

"It's safe now." He called in a surprisingly soothing way. Over the months, he and Naruto had bonded and Edward had-while not regaining sanity-managed to restore his psyche enough so that he was a much more functioning person while Naruto seemed to loose this ability of restraint, relying on Edward to control him.  
Nightingale explained to Naruto that Edward had lived his life protecting either Ditsy or Alphonse, first Ditsy and then Al when the three kitsu had been separated. Edward had all but been raised to protect, finding a new sibling giving him a reason to gather his mind into one area rather than leaving it in a spectrum of madness.  
Naruto poked his head from the bush, being of the most easily recognizable due to his whiskers and having to be hidden until things calmed down politically, and bounded over to Edward.

"We can take their cloths and supplies and use their meat as food." Edward said as he poked one of them with his foot.

"Can we save their bones?" Naruto asked childishly  
"More specifically their ribs and skulls?" He continued as he grabbed the head of one of them, a woman, and moved his thumb across her jaw line, imagining the curve of the white material.

"If you want to, I guess." Edward responded, glancing around and looking beyond the trees, before looking off towards the small town in the distance.

"When did they say they'd get back?" Edward asked. He felt a soft tug as the knife he was holding was taken. He glanced over to Naruto to see the boy eyeing the back of the woman's neck, her hair lifted by one of Naruto's hands and the other holding the knife as he poked it to her skin.

"I think around sunset, why?" Naruto asked, jabbing the dirtied weapon into her spinal cord and wiggling it.

"Just curious." He answered. Nightingale had gone into town to try and pry information from the people in the form of gossip, Ditsy having gone with to get new cloths as he old ones had been ruined when she was practicing with acidic bubbles, her newest game. Kurama was busy rebuilding their old home, which was a dimension linked to her mind.  
Edward watched Naruto fail at beheading the woman for a minute more, amused, before walking over and gently taking the knife away from his sibling.  
"Here" he said, the blade suddenly cackling with energy as it grew slightly longer. The moment it seized its growth, Edward made a swinging motion. The blade had increased in sharpness, enough so that it was able to sever the tissue.  
Due to the fact that Naruto had been holding the head up by her hair, his arm swung at the sudden lack of resistance and flung the head high into the air.

"Whoops" Naruto said sheepishly. Edward rolled his eyes and made a shooing motion.

"Just go get it." Edward said simply, licking the blood from his hand and the knife as the younger demon sped off before anyone else would have a chance to see it.  
When Naruto returned, he helped Edward remove all of the valuables from the remaining, sorting through the things, and then helped him drag the corpses back to their camp. Once there, after all of the valuables were placed in a separate area so as to not get dirty or lost, the pair began to strip the first before moving to remove the skin.

"What's the point of doing this?" Naruto asked in an annoyed voice.

"We're flaying them so we can remove the muscles better." Edward responded

"Can we make anything from the skin?" Naruto asked in an annoyed tone.

"We can but it might be tricky" Edward responded as he ran the pealed down the deceased woman's stomach. Naruto didn't understand why Edward had insisted on keeping her undergarments on, no point to it really. Once the skin was removed, Edward began to show Naruto how he liked to remove the muscle. Edward made a scalpel form and handed Naruto the small blade, but signaled him to wait.  
Edward formed his own scalpel and set it down.  
"I want a table." Edward stated blankly, Naruto raised an eyebrow

"You're stopping me because you want a table?" He asked in a deadpanned tone.

"I stopped you because we need to wash our hands." Edward corrected  
"But I do want a table." He continued

"Why?" Naruto asked as he and Edward stood back up.  
"And can't you just form one with that special stuff you always do?" He asked

"But then it wouldn't be special!" Edward exclaimed back. He clapped his hands and the blood on his arms disappeared.  
"And it's not an endless supply, I need to restock first." He continued. Edward formed two pairs of rubber gloves and handed one pair to his sibling.

"You want to restock? Here-" Naruto pushed his arms outwards, gesturing to the blood that coated them.  
"-take this before it dries." Edward rolled his eyes but clapped his hands, touching his sibling's upper arm. Edward took his scalpel again and began working, removing the meat by muscle groups, beginning by one of the shoulders.

"See, if I had a table-" Edward placed the chunk in a white porcelain bowl that appeared near them  
"I'd be able to do this in a much cleaner fashion, and we could both do it at both sides without bumping into each other." He continued. Edward put the remaining portion of the deltoid into the bowl before moving to the other side.

"Oh!" Edward's knife slipped through the trees major on accident, slicing it roughly in half, at the outburst.  
"And, if you had a table, we could have a room for it!" Naruto continued excitedly.  
"One that's soundproof!" He continued

"Why would we want that?" Edward asked  
"No point if they're already dead." He continued. Edward moved to the triceps, slicing off the muscle group whole and offering it to his sibling.

"No thanks, and they wouldn't be dead." Naruto continued. Edward gave him an odd look  
"Remember when you guys kid napped me?" He tried

"Yeah..." Edward replied, unsure where this was going.

"You tortured Zabuza and, while it looked horrifying at the time, I think it might be fun." Naruto looked up hopefully to the elder, whose face fell at the expression.

"Fine" he responded finally, but before Naruto could give his adorable cheer of excitement, Edward continued.  
"But not until _after_ our new home is restored." Naruto agreed with these boundaries and quickly helped remove the rest of the remaining meat from the beheaded person, the five others being piled up in another corner.

"Ewwww" Ditsy complained when they got to the camp sight, nose curled in disgust and both of her eyes roughly focusing on the deceased man.  
"He soiled himself" she finalized in a complaint. The man in question still bore his clothing, though he had been robbed of all of his belongings.

"Yeah, corpses tend to do that." Nightingale responded dryly and with a sly grin. Ditsy gave a huff before turning to her other siblings.

"You guys've sure been busy." She noted, walking around the pile of corpses as if they were nothing but fertilizer. Edward gave a laugh at this and offered her a bowl of red stringy meat.

"Want some?" He asked, Ditsy swiftly grabbing a chunk that had been of the gracilis.

"Needs seasoning" Ditsy mumbled as she chewed the wad of flesh, she swallowed as gave a pleased sigh.  
"But it is an amazing cut." She added.

"Why thank you" Edward responded, puffing his chest out slightly and grinning.

"So, what's the word on the Leaf?" Naruto asked curiously.

"It's in bad condition" Nightingale began, setting down the clothes she and Ditsy had acquired during their visit.  
"Apparently, the Leaf had been working on a treaty with the Sand but, after the riots and stuff, the Sand pulled out.  
The hokage was described as 'corrupted' because he's stopped sending ninja out of the village for mission, they're going bankrupt." She took a large chunk of rectus abdominus and bit into it, her sharp teeth biting into it easily. She smirked as she swallowed the flesh before looking to Naruto.  
"How're you feeling?" She asked him, smirk remaining but dimming into kindness.

"Honestly? Confused." Naruto asked, brow furrowing as he thought. Ditsy sat down at the picnic tables bench, the others doing the same.  
"My life hadn't made that man changes up until that first real mission" he said, looking upwards and at each member of his new family.  
"I mean, it had sucked, a lot, but then things went from bad to worse and then better so fast." Naruto touched his chin, thoughtful.  
"It was like my life had been moving in a direction, I was moving to acquire a steady goal and it felt that my life had been going somewhere-" Naruto shook his head and made a showing motion with one hand, leaning on the table with his other.  
"And then it all went out the window, like-" Naruto was interrupted by the surprisingly sly voice of his elder sister.

"Like someone through a wrench in the system?" Nightingale asked

"Yeah, exactly like that." Naruto responded, it hadn't been what he was about to say but it completed the sentence.

"Well, you see Naru, dimensions, or timelines, and most of them have similar-what we call-storylines." She began  
"Each dimension is slightly different than all others, but most all of them have keen similarities, this was just one of them that have your world in it." She continued  
"One of these keen similarities I've already seen here-"

"Were you stalking me?" Naruto squeaked in surprise.

"I know, right?" Nightingale laughed at his expression.  
"Anyways, when we interviewed in your life is when the flow of your timeline stopped. Unlike other dimensions, we were there. There are different versions of us sprinkled throughout the multiverse but we're inter-dimensional, if we go into another dimension then no other dimension will copy our actions." Naruto didn't understand how this explained his question, but he didn't interrupt and voice his thoughts.  
Edward scratched at the scarf of bandages that were tied around his neck, giving an adorable yawn. Nightingale blinked and turned towards Edward before moving back to Naruto.

"Alright, that's enough for now." She concluded. Edward stood up, stretching.

"See you guys in the morning." He told them before walking off and into the tent. It wasn't very long before he was joined by his siblings, Ditsy now in a new outfit.

"Goodnight" Edward mumbled quietly, already partially asleep.

"Night." Naruto replied, snuggling into the large tail he had decided to use as a pillow.

"Sweat dreams." Ditsy told, snuggling into the side of her sleeping sibling. His wing was slightly over her but she didn't care, it was warm and she had missed the comfort from her youth.

"All of you shut up and go to sleep." Nightingale joked lightly, laying on the other side of Ditsy.

/A:N/ hey guys! Things sure have been moving fast, haven't they? It's sad to say that most of the bonding didn't happen onscreen, but don't worry, you'll see plenty of fluff soon X3 also, for the sequel, it's been out since the second chap of this one and I hadn't decided to make them both coincide until a little while later so things are a little off, but most everything does smooth together in the ending I've been planning. Sorry if things have started to move in a bit more abrupt way rather than silk like but this is what I've planned, I made the beginning like most all other generic-though entertaining and lovely to read-Naruto stories up until the first mission.  
They didn't confront Zabuza right away because they got there before Zabuza would have gone to intersect them, they got there before home because they hadn't been stopped by all of the chatter, nor did they stop for the off screen overnight thing. They spent a lot less time there because Kakashi hadn't had to teach Naruto how to walk vertically and thus could focus on Sasuke, so they spent a lot more of their off screen time guarding the bridge.  
Because they spent more time guarding the bridge, the people building the bridge felt safer so fewer of them quit, and this made it so that they finished faster than they would have. Zabuza went to confront Naruto because he felt threatened and intrigued, and if he hadn't than the story would have returned to normal, heck, it would have followed its destined timeline if the others hadn't interfered and pushed things off track.  
Haku attacked them because he knew his master went to speak with Naruto and was able to put two and two together, thinking that Kakashi had killed Zabuza. Sasuke, due to the extra narcissism granted to him by Kakashi and Sakura, didn't think it wrong to use Naruto for his benefit. Sasuke honestly didn't think it wrong, nor would he understand it if someone tried to explain it to him.  
In the case that he would be confronted, he would defend himself. In the case that someone talked about it to Sakura, she would defend him to protect the identity she had given herself.  
Saratobi used Naruto under the correct assumption that he could manipulate the boy to remain in the area, using the physical and psychological torment given to the boy to force the fox to heal her container. The energy that she gave him would be cleaned subconsciously by Naruto unless in a fit of rage due to the fact that it would be pushed out of him rather than absorbed.  
The creatures inside of Naruto were never evil, most of them not even being born demons, they were made that way by Saratobi's henchmen and have no choice if they want to survive other than following Saratobi's lead since Saratobi used the time they were inside of Naruto to addict them to the energy, the same energy being mostly extracted during his time there.  
Okay, that explains everything up to there, now who wants me to-likely restate-what's going on here?  
Saratobi is a master manipulator but let his ego cloud his judgment, as seen by him assuming Naruto to be dead after the extraction and blabbering on about his plan rather than lying to him and giving him false comforts so that he could redo the process to enlarge his new army of weapons.  
His entitlement lead to his downfall, and his original plan went to nothing as most of the creatures died upon extraction whilst he lost the opportunity to regrow his creatures. Not only that, but Naruto's new siblings-they weren't at the time but grew attached afterwards-broke him out, making it so that there was literally no chance of them succeeding in their plans.  
I decided not to show this because, while it would be interesting, it isn't the main plot nor climax I have planned, isn't how I want to end the first book, and would take way too long.  
Unfortunately, Naruto won't get to practice his new fascination in death until the second book-I went a bit crazy during that one...whoops-nor will he get the room he wants until at least the third book-already out!-but bear with me here.  
I hope this explanation was helpful and I'll see you in the next chapter, now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go eat lunch.


	27. Chapter 27

Naruto awoke the next morning to the defending sound of a scream.

"What the fuck" Naruto grumbled, pushing himself up and feeling the desire to return to sleep as it was quite early. Edward groaned from nearby him, rolling over and trying to fall back to sleep.  
There had been a rush of motion that accompanied the scream, but Naruto had no idea what this could be. Deciding that it was not worth dealing with,  
Naruto closed his eyes and rested his head back down, only to be reawakened by Ditsy.

"Wake up! Hey! Wake Up!" She demanded, finally managing to push the boy out of slumber before releasing him and jumping to the next sibling.

"Whyyyyyyyyy" Edward whined, covering his eyes to protect them from the orange and yellow light that pushed through the opened tent.

"Pack, quickly!" Ditsy instructed before rushing back out in a blur.

~Ten Minutes Before~

A small group of three walked by the illumination of their oil lantern.

"Where's the camp sight again?" A woman asks, peering over the shoulder of her shorter companion. Each of them bore a travel cloak, tan in color, and carrying large bags of their belongings.

"I think it's over here, we'll finish our trip in the morning." The short male responded, looking to either side before pointing in the direction of the sight.  
"There" he stated. The third person, large and gruff in build, lifted their light source to better view something that had been obscured beyond his field of vision.

"The hell is that?" He asked, more to himself than the others, and walking over towards a bowl of slightly dry red chunks of a stringy substance. The air seemed slightly metallic, as though a hunter had used this area to tend to their catch mere hours prior.

"Do you think it was those bandits I've heard about in town?" The woman asked, standing closer to her short lover, safety in numbers after all. The large one turned towards something still hidden in the shadows, it was large and triangular in shape.

"What is that?" The short one asked, touching his glances in a vain attempt to get a better view. The woman moved closer, eyes darting to either nervously as she anticipated an attack from an unseen enemy. Reaching out a hand and touching the rim of the triangle, she froze. What she felt beneath her fingertips was skin, unfurled skin, _human_ skin.  
She leapt back, feeling repulsed at the realization, and swiftly turned towards the other two.

"We need to go" she squeaked, a look of horror in her voice. She caught a glimpse at the skinless pile of death that had gone unnoticed behind them, she shut her eyes tightly.  
"We need to go right no-" her sentence was caught off as she was tackled by a screeching other. The pair rolled to the ground, both struggling to get the upper hand. The woman cried out in pain as she felt sharp yet short nails claw at her face as the other person tried to grab her throat.

"Lana!" The short male cried, dropping the map he had naught earlier in favor of rushing to help his jewelry wed wife. His father in law, being much more practiced in build, sprang faster, letting the lantern drop thoughtlessly as he sped to prevent the death of his daughter.  
The lantern exploded as it made contact with the hard dirt and small stones that layered the ground. The shorter man screamed in fear, backpedaling and falling to the ground as he had been in the immediate path of The now present fire, the flames spraying with the oil and splashing him with their scorching touch.  
A sickening crunch was heard as Ditsy finally managed to snap the woman's throat, letting the body drop to the ground before leaping out of the way of the now enraged man.  
By the time he had been subdued, Ditsy noticed a commotion in the small town, the people had heard the explosion.  
Scrambling back up and dashing around the flame, she pushed the bodies in before leaping away from the hungry flames of the oil fire, tossing all of the evidence she could muster at the moment before dashing to retrieve her siblings to evacuate the flames that had already payed their burning fingers upon the wooden bark of the trees.

~Present Time~

Ditsy, Edward, Naruto, and Nightingale watched as the townspeople tried to put out the fire. Perhaps they simply didn't know that it was an oil fire, or maybe they didn't know not to put water on such a fire, either way the end result was the same;a burning, smoldering mass of blazing fire.  
Naruto frowned slightly as he watched them, thinking. What would this group have become if not for their mere presence? If them simply spending the night in an area is enough to derail the future, than what had they caused in the long run? What had they prevented? He turned towards Nightingale, a determined look looming over his features.

~Time Skip~

"Are you sure of this, Naruto?" Nightingale asked in an unsure voice, holding a small box to her chest. Naruto nodded, glancing at the light blue orb held within his grasp.

"Uhha" he responded, turning the orb to inspect it better.  
"So, this is the real deal? I eat this and then I get his memories?" Naruto asked, as if for the hundredth time.

"Yes and no, it might but it also might not show you his memories." Nightingale responded.  
"You'll probably have to improvise" she continued, Naruto smirked pridefully.

"Oh, I'm quite sure I can _improvise_ , my _dear_ sister." Naruto purred with a slightly malicious smirk. It had taken them a total of five months to find a dimension so similar to Naruto's own but also where Naruto had also died. Naruto gulped down the soul, trying his best to process the memories of his other self _._

 _"_ Well?" Nightingale asked in an encouraging tone.

"I know how he died-" Naruto began, thinking of the memories that he somehow distinguished from his own.  
"I can tell his personality-" he continued, he seemed to be listing off distinguished traits from him.  
"Sasuke is still an ass in that dimension, Sakura still ignoring his actions. Kakashi's better there, though." Naruto smiled, mostly to himself.  
"-and, Iruka's there too-" he scowled suddenly, snarling  
"-Saratobi's there." His scowl deepened even more.

"Does that version of you have, sorry, _had_ inside friends, too?" Edward asked suddenly. Naruto nodded

"Yeah but his weren't like mine, they all died upon his death." Naruto's siblings nodded in understanding at this, some of them smirking.

"Where did he die? Was he in battle? Did anyone see him die?" Nightingale asked, listing off each question with her fingers.

"He died in the 'Forest of Death' during the chunin exams. The others didn't see it, so that isn't something we have to worry about, he was killed by a humongous snake." Naruto listed back, he thought for a moment before grinning.  
"All in all, it should be easy to fit into his role." Edward ruffled his hair for a few moments before pausing.

"You sure you don't want us to go with you?" Edward asked, worried. Naruto shook his head.

"No, this new world doesn't need any more wrenches in its system, besides, you have your own work to do." Naruto responded with an appreciative smile. Ditsy, who had remained silent before this, spoke up.

"How about you just summon one of us if you need us?" Ditsy offered kindly and with a broad smile. Naruto grinned again, nodding.

"But only when I have no other choice." Naruto added, Ditsy rolled her eyes and sighed at her brother's stubbornness.

"Yeah, fine." Naruto replied with an eye roll. During the time they had been looking for the best world for him to infiltrate, his siblings had trained him in the ways of their kind. Their history, how to spot another one of themselves, what to watch out for, who to watch out for, what things he could do that others couldn't, and how to do things that only beings such as themselves could do.  
He had learned how to preen himself properly, among many other things, and he had learned how to strategize, though he wasn't all that good at that part. He had learned that his abilities were surprisingly destructive, something he had yet to learn to tame. Because of this, he had earned the nickname of "tornado" and "whirlwind", "twister" and "maelstrom".  
He had yet to master most anything of what he had been taught, other than flying correctly and dynamic soaring, and still needed help preening his feathers in a way that didn't take at least five hours.  
Nightingale handed him the box of cloths, weapons, etc., before hugging him, the rest of the group joining in swiftly to assist the effort of squeezing the life from the youngest of the midst.  
Naruto dressed himself in the orange jumpsuit he had been given, filling up his weapon pouches with the tools provided. He looked to his siblings, a sparkle in his cat-like eyes.

"Wish me luck!" He called before transporting away from the inter-dimensional room. The others waved to him as the light from his transport dissipated.


	28. Chapter 28

~Parallel Dimension~

The world seemed to materialize before Naruto, or perhaps he materialized within the world. The transport only lasted a few moments, the flash only being present for a mere moment before returning to nothingness, as though it had never happened in the first place.  
Naruto breathed in the scent of blood, his blood to be precise, and quickly followed the scent. Grabbing his corpse, he quickly dug a hole before dumping his own regurgitated corpse into the dirt before covering it back up, stomping the dirt to pad it down. Wiping the dirt, saliva, and bile on his pant legs, he stood, dashing into a sprint, in search for his new "team".  
He found the pair on a high ranking branch, both of whom starring upwards at some unseen force. A large snake sprang forwards, ready to strike. Naruto wanted to slash into it, claw its eyes out, stab it, but he knew that this world's version of him wouldn't do that, nor be able to.  
In the end, he merely used a kunai to detour the great beast, the small in comparison blade piercing easily throw the tough scales. If anyone took the time to analyze the action, they'd say that they blade would not be strong enough to penetrate or that the velocity of the snake would force the blade to recoil, what none of these analysts would add in is the fact that the blade had been coated in a transparent layer of chakra, one that only lasted until impact but allowed for the blade to imbed itself multiple feet within the creature.  
The snake made an odd screech and hiss mix at the burning sensation of the chakra as it fizzled, the small yet deep wound not healing as one of its size normally would, and the creature lost focus, missing its target and ending up slamming into the thick branch. Naruto wanted to laugh at the numerous scene but felt the situation to be a serious one and not one that allowed his humor.

"The hell were you doing, Uchiha?" Naruto asked in distaste. In question, Sasuke turned to Naruto as the blonde landed easily on the branch next to him. Sasuke held a look in his eyes, one of surprise, lingering horror, and an odd blankness of defeat, as thou the boy had given something up and quit. Naruto wrinkled his nose as if in response to a foul odor.  
"Wipe that look off you faced, it's disgusting." Naruto hissed. He had to admit that badmouthing this version of Sasuke made him feel better about what the raven had put him through.  
Sasuke finally proceeded the situation, scowling at the blonde's sudden incline of confidence and attitude.

"Oh shut up, dobe." Sasuke retorted snidely. Naruto smirked internally to himself at how easy this all had gone, how swift he was to replace the other version of himself, and how the others hadn't noticed the differences.

'I'll have to thank Ed sometime later, using an illusion was the right way to go!' He told himself. Edward had convinced and help teach Naruto how to use an illusion, similarly to a genjutsu, to tempt the mind of those around him to fill in the gaps with their memory.  
This kind of illusion took advantage of the gaps the brain leaves due to the fact that it is constantly in control of everything at once, and such multitasking leads to things being misinterpreted or just seen different than it truly was. This kind of illusion takes advantage of this factor and either tempts the mind to make connections to explain things, such as Naruto's slightly different size, build, shade of skin color, shade of hair color, facial structure...now that Naruto thought about it, there were a lot of differences between this world's him and himself.  
Sakura looked to him with a look of both surprise and gratitude, thankful for his intervening. This look turned to horror and she threw a pointing hand out to behind the blonde.

"Look out!" She yelled desperately. If it were not for her reaction, Naruto would not have managed to turn and dodge the grasp of the invading other.  
The person, whose gender was indistinguishable due to a complete lack of feminine or masculine traits, growled in distaste as Naruto had evaded from his grasp. Naruto's eyes widened a mere fraction of an inch before settling back again, allowing his recognition of this person's energy type to go unnoticed. He vaguely knew this person, though not as he had from those who had betrayed him. This man had been a member of the circle who had worked on _that_ day.  
He knew that this man-yes, he knew it was a man-had not gone to extract the beings he would assume to reside inside of the boy, nor had this version helped in the original sealing, so he wouldn't recognize Naruto for who he was.  
Taking a kunai with speed unseen by the others and plunging it into the man's throat with swiftness inhumanly possible, Naruto leapt back to his "friends", standing before them in a protective stance.  
The past version of him had a goal, that much Naruto remembered, he wanted to become a chunin. Naruto knew this to be an impossible feat, the council either wouldn't allow him to pass due to weakness on his part or fear of what he could do if he did succeed, but he felt that letting one of his cohorts die so quickly would ruin his game.  
Naruto listened as the man gurgled, grasping at the bark beneath them as if it would help him, before loosing his footing and falling to the forest below.

"Naruto! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?" Sakura screamed in horror, not believing that the dim witted ally was capable of murder.

"We should move before he regenerates." Naruto explained horridly, knowing that the man was not without allies who would go to their master's aid.

"Regenerates? Naruto, you _killed_ someone." Sasuke snapped, also mortified.  
'Was this the real Naruto?' He wondered silently.

"He was bragging about it to a couple others in the test room." Naruto lied as an explanation, it was the best he could give at the moment.  
"I overheard him tell them that he could do it, and that he had before. He can regenerate his entire body-" Naruto crinkled his nose in disgust.  
"-Similarly to how a snake sheds their skin, gross!" Sakura sighed in relief at the explanation, lifting up their earth scroll.

"I have the other one." She told him. Naruto didn't remember this part, or anything of scrolls, but he was a great roll player, grinning in pretend satisfaction and relief. Sasuke suddenly put a hand before Sakura, blocking the blond off from the pair.

"Wait, how do we know he is who he says he is?" Sasuke asked. Naruto feigned confusion whilst his heart skipped a beat.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked, his tone revealing nothing.

"What is the password?" Sasuke asked. Naruto scratched his brain, trying to remember. Coming up with a blank, he improvised.

"No idea." Naruto finally responded with a shrug before turning around, leaping off of the branch to leave the area.

"Are we going to go or what?" Naruto asked loudly, not pausing to listen for a response. It wasn't long before the others were running beside him, both of them slightly slower. Sakura was in the back, having the least muscle mass of all of them. Naruto stopped suddenly on one of the branches, realizing something.  
"Maybe someone who knows where the thing is should lead." Naruto stated to the others, both of whom sweatdropping at this.  
It took much longer than it should have, as they managed to get turned around multiple times, one of the causes being intersection by another team, and they ended up resting for the night at one point of time, to the displeasure of Naruto who had gotten used to sleeping during the day and living during the night to avoid being spotted.  
Naruto waved a hand in the air in a dismissing way.

"Nah, I can do it. You guys just get some shut eye." Naruto responded, trying to convince the others to let him keep a watching eye out for foes while they rested their battered and exhausted selves. Sasuke finally caved to Naruto's prodding, the argument having lasted the better portion of the past five minutes. Sakura groaned dramatically, as if it was her he had been arguing with.

"Just don't watch me _this_ time." She glared at him, as if to make a point. Naruto's eye gave an unnoticed twitch, knowing that his other had no true romantic feelings for the other and finding her personality, now that they were out of danger, to be as annoying as it had been in his own world. He wanted to retort, to snap at her, to tell off her lie, but he knew that the other version of him had never done so, always taking the hits rather than defending himself.

"Oh, don't worry, _dear Sakura_ , I'll make sure to _not_ watch out for someone who wants to _slit your throat_." Naruto purred in a passive aggressive tone. Sakura hadn't heard him, already having moved on to their hiding place. Naruto sat, still as a statue, on his rock island.  
The hours passed as Naruto sat, remaining still and allowing his sense of hearing to cloud his eyesight, listening for the sound of breath, of crinkling leaves, footsteps, anything.  
Finally, after four hours, he felt a footstep. Focusing on the location of the person, his eyes having been closed for the past few hours so he knew the other though him asleep. He memorized the spot where the person crept, the hand he had rested in his pocket very slowly wrapping around the kunai that rested there, and he sprang forth from his location to the other.  
Grabbing the other's ponytail and yanking it backwards, wrapping his arm around the others neck so the other couldn't escape. The other had been facing away from him the moment he had struck, so Naruto stood behind him.

"Give me a reason" Naruto hissed through the teeth that held the handle of his blade, the same blade that was pushed dangerously close to the other's main artery located in his throat.

"Easy, Naruto!" The other, whom Naruto recognized as Shikamaru, replied immediately and in a very alarmed tone. The grip of the blade loosened before regaining its previous edge.

"Nara, you are _well_ aware of what this test details, we are _enemies_ so long as we are here." If he had the wits to think clearly concerning his sense rather than trying to determine a way to appease Naruto, he would have realized just how clear and almost echo-y Naruto's voice had sounded in those moments, as though he hadn't spoken them through the Handel of a metal blade.  
"Why in anyone's right mind, would _anyone_ assume you an ally? I have _no_ reason to assume that you didn't come here to try and steal our scrolls through violent means." Naruto continued. Shikamaru was most definitely confused as to where this had been coming from, knowing his friend to give all the benefit of the doubt to the point of it being harmful to himself, not to mention the sudden incline of speech patterns in those moments.

"If I had come here to hurt you, then I wouldn't have moved on without dealing with you when you were sleeping." Shikamaru reasoned before realizing that Naruto likely hadn't truly been asleep in those moments. He gave a soft chuckle at this realization, looking to the side as if he could see the blonde.  
"Clever boy." He said in a calm tone.  
"I hope you understand that I will not harm you, let's talk-" moving slowly, careful not to move too fast nor slow, Shikamaru lifted a hand from his loosened confinement and gently touched the blade on his throat, moving to the cheek of the blond in a seemingly affectionate manner.  
"Easy now, you're doing good." He said in hushed tones as he slowly and carefully removed the blade, pulling it away and dropping it to the ground beside them.  
Bringing his hand back to Naruto's cheek, he carefully and precisely rubbed the whisker where it met the jaw line, sensing the pulse of chakra and feeling Naruto's muscles relax slightly from behind him. He had discovered this trick when he and Naruto had been younger, though the reasoning behind it was unknown to the brunette.  
An idea sprouted and took route in Shikamaru's mind, he began to stroke the pressure point, pushing very lightly where he knew the lines to be.  
His father had actually taught him this part when he had asked, though it had been an eternity ago and when they had still been quite young. Deciding that Naruto was in the correct state of mind now, he gently changed their positioning so that he was now facing the blonde. The moment that he was about to speak, imprint a few demands into the impressionable state of mind, Naruto jerked back, eyes flashing open and instantly regaining consciousness. He stood in a defensive position, both kunai at the ready to slash or block, his stance was wide and low, arms almost in an X shape, his facial expression unreadable in the dim light. Naruto didn't understand how or what had just happened, but he knew it unwise to allow himself to relax around a possible enemy, that portion of his life had long since ended, and nothing solidified his newfound resolve more than the memories of this world's version of himself.  
Shikamaru looked on, taken aback at the blonde's actions. Naruto pointed away from their location, a small glare on his features.

"Leave _now_." Naruto hissed, perhaps playing this role wouldn't be as easy as he had assumed. He realized that he would need to fix this, and fast, to avoid suspicion.  
"Oh, hey wait-" Naruto called in a quiet enough tone. Shikamaru turned around, eyebrow raised, having almost been about to leap over and to a tree branch with the assistance of a shock of chakra. Naruto let his head tilt to the side, bangs acting as curtains and perfectly draining his face, a sweet smile overtaking his lips.  
"We're good, right?" Naruto asked in a kind voice, Shikamaru's eyes widened slightly as his cheeks heated from Naruto's sudden adorableness, not to mention sudden attractiveness. Naruto smirked internally, he really did love playing with people's senses, he'd have to thank Nightingale when he would next see her. After a few quick and embarrassed nods from the brunette, Naruto was alone again.  
Walking back over to his stump, he sat, thinking in depth of his next steps. Should he play with this further? Test it out on others? No, that would draw in too much unwanted attention. Would it happen again? Who else knew how to do... _that_ to him? What even was that trance? He glanced over his shoulder, checking to see if the others were out or awake. Upon seeing neither of them present, he pulled out a kunai, lifting it to his face, starting on his right side.


	29. Chapter 29

Sasuke rose semi early in the morning, the few beams of sunlight penetrating through the enclosed space and landing on his eyelids being his cause for him to stir. With a small groan, he sat up, before realizing the hour and furrowing his brow in confusion, and then concern.  
It was morning, yet Naruto had yet to come to wake either of them up for their shift, meaning that he either had pulled an all nights, or that something had happened to cause for his absence. Leaning over, he reached out and grasped Sakura's shoulder, shaking her softly to force her to consciousness.  
She too groaned in annoyance, slowly moving to face a different direction. With a grunt of annoyance, Sasuke carefully moved his body silently out of the gap between roots of the space beneath the tree. Walking cautiously, the mildew-covered grass wetting his sandals and exposed toes, he move over towards the nearest chakra sources, which, coincidentally, just happened to be where Naruto had sat the night prior. The raven haired boy was not a sensory-type ninja, merely someone to have long since learned to sense the bare bases of chakra, as was common among genin and low class chunin.  
Naruto wiped his cheek on the sleeve of his jacket, the orange being stained by smeared red, as the wounds healed over once again. Hearing the sound of footsteps, he glanced over and gave a small wave to the other person, who seemed to not notice the cleverly hidden wounds.

"Naruto" Sasuke greeted, though his voice seemed to hold some kind of edge.

"Yeah?" Naruto asked, the glowing of his internal flesh returning to he unseen as the wounds fully healed. He finally turned towards the other, raising a blank brow towards the stern look that had been plastered over top the Uchiha's face.

"Why didn't you switch shifts?" Sasuke continued, the edge to his voice sharpening swiftly. Naruto paused for a very small moment before responding, the sound of humor evident in his voice.

"I though that you and Sakura, cuddling and dry humping, was too cute to interrupt." He lied with an honest tone, his voice convincing and calm with only the most minor hints of his true amusement. The look that overtook Sasuke's face seemed to match that of the raven's favorite food, the newfound tomato shade being quite numerous to the cause of the blood that rushed to his face. Naruto laughed, closing his eyes and snickering, sharp canines revealing themselves, only to be left unnoticed.  
"I mean, seriously, you _wanted_ me to walk you up and interrupt your soaking wet dream?!" Naruto cackled, throwing his head back as his laughter finally revealed itself, finally forcing Sakura to awaken from her peaceful slumber despite the distance between them.  
Naruto felt the presence of his siblings, two of them anyway, as they watched in silent amusement. As Sakura trudged out of the hole, groggy and annoyed beyond belief, she moved over towards her pair of teammates and glared at the blonde.

"You are SO annoying, BAKA!" She began, having enjoyed the dream she had been in the process of finishing and was now more than a little agitated.  
"I mean, _seriously_ , why did you wake me and my precious Sasuke-Kun up so early?!" She exclaimed, glaring daggers at her teammate. Sasuke glanced over to the pair before deciding to return to their shelter and pack their few things, namely the pair of scrolls.

"Oh? A ninja sleeping in while on duty? And here I thought you were oh so very prestigious, _Sakura-chan_." Naruto purred, being annoyed that he could not show his aggression towards the person before him. Sakura gawked, as though the words spoken had been much worse and more damaging than they sounded.

"I AM a good ninja, someone as dumb as _you_ just can't understand that!" She retorted to Naruto, who raised his hands in a defensive manner. Sakura fumed as she was made to look as the bad guy of the verbal and mental duel, trying to think of some form of retaliation.  
"And at least I'm not some kind of stalking pervert!" She added. The twitch of Naruto's lower eye lid went unnoticed as the girl continued. Her words were loud and unchallenged for a good few moments of eternity, then, with unseen speed, she found herself slamming into the back of a tree.  
Sakura made a sound, as though in attempt to gasp for the breath that had been forced from her lungs upon impact, but found her windpipe clogged from an outside source. Two hands, tanned and sun kissed to a ever familiar shade, held on with a fearsome force.

"Don't you _ever_ call me that again." He hissed lowly after a few moments of agonizing distress as her lungs began to burn oddly quick, her increased pulse likely being a cause. After a moment longer, she was released to the ground, collapsing and guarding her own throats with one hand as she tried to stabilize herself with the other.  
Why hadn't Sasuke heard when her back flashed harshly with the touch bark? Why couldn't he hear the sounds of anguished gasping and low volumes hisses as those yellow, slitted eyes glared into her soul. Yellow-what?  
The idea of anything but blue, or the occasional red, being present in his warm depths was confusing, had his irises truly been yellow in those moments?  
She glanced up towards him, his retreating form being overtaken by the shade of the trees as he ventured back to their camp, and watched with undecided attention. He turned back towards her a few moments later and placed a finger to his lips in a hushing manner, making no sound whatsoever. His eyes were the same blue as ever but...were they darker? Something was off about those twin orbs of swimming, swirling colors.  
A few moments later and she stood, finding her neck to oddly enough not hurt nor in the process of bruising. Her mind hurt trying to think of the actions that had passed moments prior, she didn't understand why, what had even happened?  
As she neared the group again, this time by the heavily rooted tree and their previous shelter, she noticed something else that was odd, something that she only saw from the side of her vision, something even odder than the eyes that seem to change colors yet confuse those who believed themselves to have seen anything wrong at all due to their inability to remember what had been wrong in the first place;  
'Are his cheeks...' she shifted her gaze once again but found what she had thought herself to have seen to no longer be present. In those moments, the skin surrounding his whiskered birthmarks looked to be inflamed, bright and agitated as though something had happened to them in concentrated areas repeatedly.


	30. Chapter 30

Journal Entry: 1,003,199  
Subject: Report

Dear Journal,

Today, I finally finalized my studies in time brakes and am now certified to fix them. I have showed this by my assistance with a time-brake caused by faulty time travel method being used by untrained travelers, Earth dimension 35B, America, Oregon.  
A young boy and girl, whom I have never met prior to this, had managed to obtain a damaged tool, which functioned by pulling the user to different points in time on a fixed timeline in a singular dimension and thus had no multi-dimensional capabilities, and had used it for a joyride, royally screwing up theory own reality until their own distinctive time had been scrambled horrifically, pushing them into the dimensional layer of which phantoms reside.  
They have been successfully returned to their usual plane of existence, the male having made a mutually beneficial contract with us under the terms of him being an asset and will make scheduled reports to us via equally scheduled meetings.  
In return, he has signed the summoning contract and is hence allowed to summon an undecided member of our upper ranks, inner circle, whenever it is needed.  
The cause for this being a necessity is the odd qualities of the land of which he resides; though he is human by all means and physically rather weak, being scrawny and young, the place of which he resides is flooded with beings and creatures of potentially dangerous capabilities and motives.  
Signed,  
Elkan Kura

Edward finished his report with swift ease, the place around him being the shattered and slowly rebuilt remains of what looked to be a furnished office and library, though gravity seemed to be inexistent in this area. Books and candles and shelves hovered, slowly descending before rising in a rhythmic pattern, and a blank white void covered the rest of the area.  
A door, closed and connected to a chunk of a polished wood surface, floated diagonally, being talented very slightly. He furled the parchment and moved towards the door with a few beats of his wings, landing on the wooden surface and opening the door. While the door was closed, any onlooker would assume it to lead to no where as it was connected to nothing, a mere frame without purpose, yet the other side of the door revealed a space, a sort of hall fashioned with stone, wood, and metal, the light emitted from the space contrasting sharply with that of the large and endless room Edward had been in, the boundless void seeming to whisper hushed sounds as many things floated within its nonexistent walls.  
Various other doors littered the empty air, no light source seen nor present to be assumed the cause of the light that seemed to bounce from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. As the door slid and clicked shut, Edward having left his Mindspace, the large gate behind and set on the nonexistent ground, being the only cause for a solid shadow, opened.


	31. Chapter 31

Naruto sat, watching, as a violent battle persisted below. His legs swung over the side, one moving forwards while the other backwards before they would switch a repeat in a nonstop show of a childlike inability to sit still. Naruto hummed as he watched, a grin having long since formed overtop his features as he watched the gruesome battle.  
He, Sasuke, and Sakura had made it to the center station the day prior and he was now waiting out the remaining time of the second portion of the test. He bit his lip until he bled, trying to withhold his laughter, as one of the fighting participants stabbed the other through what appeared to be the receiving member's right lung.

"Of all the people here, you were the last one I expected to just sit and watch." A redheaded boy said as he entered the area, seeming to have been seeking out Naruto and following his aura. Naruto twisted his head into an unnatural angle, grinning with his head practically upside down.

"It's funny, is it not? You never know when someone might be into something like this, it's best not to judge~" Naruto replied, unable to prevent his joyous laughter as the katana was removed from the now disabled and gurgling other, a spurt of blood staining the ground before the rest of the red fluid could finish its dripping as it stained the earth.

"And I thought I was messed up." Gaara said quietly, though Naruto still heard it due to his sensitive hearing and their close proximity.

"Congrats on being the first person here, by the way." Naruto praised, smiling oddly at the jinchuriki, as if his words were a mislead to his true intentions.  
"But, next time, maybe don't be such a pathetic wimp who relies solely on their demons to protect and fight for them, it's really demeaning of your potential, not to mention pitiful." He added, giggling slightly at the enraged look that crossed Gaara's face.

"You think _you_ can do better? You little-!" His words were cut off by pain, an unfamiliar sensation to the redhead, erupted from within his skull and chest. Naruto merely laughed harder as the other doubled over, their demon seeming oddly absent through the ordeal, not ceasing the opportunity to gain control for no apparent reason.

"You really think you're that big and bad, don't you?!" Naruto laughed, the repetitive sound slowly becoming manic as he held his middle. Naruto smirked uncharacteristically sadistic.  
"No matter how powerful you are, there's always going to be someone else _better_ than you, _smarter_ than you, _stronger_ than you. You think that just 'cause you got away with so many deaths, you can simply command anyone and everyone? Ha! Not even I, with all I can do and destroy, am that blind to the truth." A glint of madness slipped through the barricades within Naruto's mind, entering his eyes as he grind nefariously. The pain stopped suddenly and without warning, as Naruto seemed satisfied.  
"Even so, I will not kill you, I can't, you're to important to me." Gaara blinked in confusion at this, looking up from his place on the sturdy tree branch, not standing from where he had fallen.  
"I won't lie to you, you know to much to fool after all, so I'll be honest: the thing inside of you isn't your mother, it's a demon, a bijuu specifically, and all it wants is to eat your soul and break your mind." Was that amusement in his tone?  
"However, I have disabled this, though, this also means that your sand will no longer act on its own to protect you, and now you'll have the _pleasure_ of never seeing nor hearing its voice again, instead, you're mine." The boy stood from where he sat, cantering over and away from his much enjoyed show. He grabbed onto the cloth of Gaara's shirt tightly, his grin-now more tame-returning to plaster his features.  
"That pain? Not a deterrent, it was a test. I wanted to see if I could do it, and now you'll get to feel that _wonderful_ sensation every time that thing, that figment of the real version of itself, tries to take over. It will hurt, nothing can change that now, and no one else will ever see anything different with that seal of yours." A small pause occurs, during which time Naruto's eyes swept over Gaara's figure, sizing him up quickly.  
"You may think of this as cruel, but it's not, it's for the best, honestly. Your world is better than the one ai first cake from, but it is still one of the bad ones, so you need to watch your back." Naruto looked up, giving Gaara a soft smile as he did so and causing Gaara's heart to flutter oddly, his mind seeming to forget the horror of all that had been revealed and the hand that still gripped his shirt's cloth with intimidating intensity.  
Naruto released the other, almost pushing him away, and walked back to the spot he had been in before Gaara's arrival, though he still stood.  
"Time for me to go, I need to get down there before my meal expires, or else it won't nourish me, it would be a shame to have to hint and wait for another fight like this one had been, wouldn't it?" Naruto spoke in an oddly calm, seemingly longing tone, eyes shimmering slightly and he allowed his body to fall forwards, disappearing to the ground below.  
The question Gaara had prior to the confrontation, his reason for tracking Naruto down in the first place, seemed to misplace themselves from within Gaara's memory, forgotten due to the various other things he had learned and been told, though they would soon return.  
Why did Naruto no longer produce the same aura he had before? Why could he no longer sense the powerful presence of the fox from within him? And most of all, why was his mother fearful of him?

~With Naruto~  
-Gore Warning-  
Naruto grinned wide, his sharp teeth revealing themselves as he did so, as he closed the distance between him and the slowly diminishing source of life.  
Granted, this source had lost much of its abundance and thus would not correctly subdue his hunger, it would grow again soon, yet that didn't matter, he would cross that bridge when he got to it. Naruto leaned over towards his meal and gave him an almost sympathetic look, knowing that the other was still very much conscious.

"Hey" Naruto greeted lamely, trying to give the stranger a comforting smile. In truth, he felt more empathy towards his meals than his so called 'friends', he disliked others dying in such a fashion despite the warmth it gave his stomach and the joy he felt while watching, an odd contrast, yet still it was just a way of life for him now.  
The person wheezed softly, warm blood having mostly filled one of his lungs prior to that point.  
"I know it hurts, just try and sit still while I eat your blood." He told him, trying to sound soothing but causing nothing but the scent of fear to fill the air. He flicked his tongue from between his lips, a habit that had remained from before his last imprisonment, and tasted the emotion easily. He did not know why he was able to taste emotions and state of mind, he had thought it a trait he had been burrowing from one of the many inhabitance that had taken residence within him, but the fact that it persisted long after their absence had become potent had proved him and the others wrong in their collective theory.  
Naruto continued to mumble quietly, trying to irradiate the taste and scent of fear in the air. Admittedly, it did taste quite pleasant, but the look on his face seemed less than, almost reminding Naruto of the many he himself had made long ago.  
He allowed his jaw to open, a slight mist of glowing substance coming out and moving towards the very much still conscious, though slowly drowning prey. By the time the mist had subsided, all the boy was capable of was soft wheezing, breathing proving difficult.  
The sound of wet cries and gasps of pain were all but absorbed by the natural hisses and other such noises produced by the forest and its inhabitance, the popping of bone, wet pop noises, and the sound of great chewing could however be heard within the wooden area that was just big enough a clearing to allow a few rays of untouched sunlight to slip through.  
The person twitched slightly as his organs and the soft tissue of his middle region were consumed, his face remaining untouched by the blood yet stained by tears. The boy was blonde with orange highlights, a little older than Naruto, and had warm violet eyes, now dimmed and void of any sentience as the life force of their owner had been removed, the systems that had been keeping him alive having been disrupted, removed, and consumed.  
When Naruto was finished, he looked over the unnamed stranger before leaning forwards and removing his headband, looking over it to see the symbol etched over it. He didn't recognize it, though the same could be said for most of the villages, but he decided to keep at least this much.  
Leaving his mess out would be pointless, burying it would be a much better option. Moving quickly, he began to dig a hole within the dirt before setting the warm corpse in the spot, placing a cloth over his face and closing his eyelids manually, before covering the area back up and patting it down with the shovel. When he was finished, he released the tool and allowed it to glow, mass turning to much more easily transferred energy, which he then stored in a small vial, the glowing substance condensing and turning to liquid. With this done, he headed off to rid himself of the mess that stained his clothing and skin.


End file.
